


You Must Be Fireproof

by henley_sarah



Series: AHS Fics [4]
Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Based on a One Direction Song, Dark Magic, F/M, Family Issues, Feels, Fluff, High School, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, Magic, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Memory Magic, Modern Royalty, Necromancy, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon, Royalty, Sex, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, Smut, Tags Contain Spoilers, Vaginal Fingering, Voodoo, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 17:52:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 20
Words: 23,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16142426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/henley_sarah/pseuds/henley_sarah
Summary: Kyle was a pretty easy guy to talk to. He had this warm smile and just seemed super outgoing and friendly. I actually kind of liked him. He was pretty nice.I was thinking about him when I locked my bedroom door, wondering how such a kind person existed in the world. Kindness wasn't extinct? This was news to me.Or maybe he wasn't nice at all. Maybe he just wanted me to help him with his grades, so he was playing nice. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened. Maybe he was doing one of those movie jock things where, like, he's dared to date a less popular person or some shit. There ain't no way a pretty boy jock would want anything to do with me.I then realized I was thinking super stereotypically, and I should cut that shit out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The stories in this series just seem to be getting shorter and shorter. This is the last short one, pinky swear. The next two are longer than the previous ones have been so far, and I plan for the one after those to be even longer.

My school year was starting off well for it only being the second day. I had pretty decent classes, no one was bothering me, so it was pretty alright.

I just got out of my English class and walked down a hall and up some stairs to my last class of the day, Biology. I got my seat and wasn't surprised that nobody sat by me. So I leaned back in my seat, setting my bag on the floor, and just sipped sweet tea from the giant tumbler I brought to school with me.

Senior year. I was already ready for it to be over. I know everybody says that, but I can honestly not wait.

The teacher pointed to some blond jock-looking guy to sit next to me, and I didn't expect him to talk to me, so I gave him a small smile and didn't say a word. He sat to my right at the two-person table, also leaning back in his seat.

Our teacher began to call roll, and I relaxed, as my name was at the end of the alphabet. The guy beside me name was called before mine, and I learned him to be Kyle Spencer.

After a minute or so, he got to mine. "Antoinette Ver... wow. Um. Verte..." He struggled with my last name, which didn't surprise me.

"Yeah, don't even try." I raised my hand. "And I go by Tony," I said and he just nodded and wrote it down, and I leaned back again.

He talked us through the class, just introducing himself, and I kept sipping my sweet tea through the straw of my gold tumbler. Kyle next to me didn't seem all that interested either. Honestly, who really gives a shit about how you're not married, and you consider your dogs as your children? I'm just here for my diploma.

He then wanted us to go around the room and introduce ourselves because teachers liked that sorta thing for some reason. I drew my two goddess braids over my shoulders and messed with the ends to distract myself because I couldn't care less.

I just wanted to go home and get some food. Goddamn, I was starving.

The girl to my right said her name and a random fact about herself before it was passed to me, and I let a braid fall back onto my chest.

"Name's Tony, and uh... I like sugar. There's something..." I hummed and looked at the blond guy.

"I'm Kyle, and... I... guess I do a lot of volunteer work." He shrugged and passed it along, and I kept sipping my tea. I practically zoned out the next fifty or so minutes and jumped when the bell rang. We all got our bags and walked out, and while most kids got on the buses out in front of our high school, I turned the corner to walk home, which was just through the woods behind the school. It was pretty thin, you could see the houses through the trees.

I slipped in the back door and locked it, then got myself a refill of sweet tea and a snack before I crept up to my room and locked the door.

I hated sneaking around my own house. I lived here, too. It doesn't matter if four other people did as well.

I lived with my momma, who was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. She had golden brown skin and the longest waves of dark brown hair, and the warmest eyes that just touched your soul. My cousin lived here, too. A tall, tattooed and pierced pro fighter. He looked tough as shit, but he was always gentle with his family.

Then there were my grandparents, my mom's parents. Grandma was fine, a tiny sweet old lady who just loved to cook all the time. But my grandpa? He was a devil.

There was a knock at the door and I froze until I heard my grandma's soft voice. I opened up and saw she had a plate with a sandwich on it for me.

"Daumier told me he heard you coming in." She handed me the plate, and I smiled on behalf of my cousin. "Eat up, and come down. I just put some chocolate chip cookies in the oven."

"Thanks, grandma." I gave her a smile, and she walked off. I closed my door, locking it just in case. I ate and waited until I could smell the cookies before I went down with the empty plate and my drink. I rinsed off the plate and put it in the sink, then reached for a cookie on the cooling rack.

I knew grandma wanted to scold me and warn me it was hot, but she knew it was pointless. Fire couldn't hurt me. Nothing would ever burn me.

I sat at the table and ate cookies as she talked to me, telling me stories and such. I could hear the TV in the living room swearing up a storm, meaning Daumier was in there. And if he was in there, that meant grandpa was probably napping in his room.

When mom came home, she gave me a disapproving look.

"You're gonna ruin your appetite, girl." Her eyebrows rose.

"The girl needs to eat. Look at her, Rosalie. She's skin and bone." Grandma said to my mom, who just pursed her lips.

Daumier then came into the kitchen and took a cookie, giving a smile to my mom. She just shook her head at us before looking at me.

"How was school, Tony?" She asked and I gave a little shrug.

"'Bout as good as it can get," I said and decided I was done with the cookies. Real food did sound pretty good.

"I don't see why you bother." Grandma shook her head. "What's a diploma, anyway?"

"I have a diploma," Daumier said. "You need at least a high school diploma to get a job, grandma."

"Bullshit." She hummed.

"Mom, it's not the forties. And Tony's not a housewife." My mom chuckled.

"Gisèle!" Grandpa called, and she got up to go to him, and Daumier sat beside me, serving as a sort of protection.

"What Y'all want for dinner?" Mom looked at us, and I just gave a little shrug. So he and mom talked it out and she got started, grandma helping her when she came back, and all of us were just ignoring grandpa's grumbling from the living room.


	2. Chapter 2

School the next day was sort of boring, too, but the day got exciting when Daumier was waiting at the back door for me, wearing clothes that told me he was going somewhere.

"Go on. Get prettied up." He nodded.

"I'm already pretty, and you know it," I said, but crept up to my room anyway. I put on a shirt that fell off my shoulders and some ripped as fuck jeans but kept my sneakers on. I touched up my makeup a little and got my bag with my money in it, then met him back outside.

"Where we going?" I asked as we went over to his bike.

"It's hot. How you feel about slushies?" He said, handing me a helmet, and I smiled and nodded before putting it on my head.

I held on as he drove us into town, and he parked and kicked down the kickstand by a drink shop known for smoothies, juice, original sodas, snow cones, and slushies.

"What flavor you want?" He asked.

"Um, cherry," I said, and he nodded and handed me his helmet.

"Watch after my bike. I'll be back in a minute." He said and I nodded. I slid my phone out of my pocket and checked up on a little of my social media as I waited. This was my little freedom field trip. Daumier brought me out maybe once a week when he wasn't working or fighting, just to get me away for a bit, let me live for a couple of hours without worries.

He came back out and handed me a cup, and I saw he had grape.

"You fucking psychopath." I shook my head, mixing my slushie around a bit before sipping.

"Shut up." He smiled.

"No one willingly gets grape flavored anything except actual psychopaths." I teased.

"Fuck off, Tony." He lightly kicked me as I snickered.

We stood there with our drinks, ignoring the people that gave Daumier looks for his tattoos and piercings. He normally just had to glance at people before they scurried away.

"Hey, baby!" A woman called and we looked over, and I smiled at seeing Marie Laveau making her way towards us. She kissed Daumier's cheek and put her arm around me, two of her boys following her.

"How ya been, sugar?" She asked after kissing my cheek, and I kissed her.

"Alright. How 'bout you?" I asked, and she hummed and trailed her fingers down my hair.

"Ah, you know, working. Honey, oh, let me redo these. Did your momma do them?" She asked.

"My mom braids fine," I said.

"I'm not saying she doesn't. I'm saying I do better." She smiled and rubbed my back.

"I'm telling her you said that, Miss Laveau," Daumier smirked.

"Daumier Vertefeuille, you snitch." She shot at him, making me laugh. "And you, Miss Antoinette Vertefeuille," She started, now looking at me, and I shut up.

"When are you going to let me get you in my shop?" She sighed, and I fell into a smile again.

"I told you, once I graduate, I'm free as a bird," I said, looking at her, and she traced my hair again.

"When's that? June?" She asked and I nodded.

"Yes, ma'am."

She sighed, pursing her lips. "Can I have you over holidays?" She asked, and I nodded. "Good. Send your momma my love."

"Will do." I nodded and she blew kisses to both of us before walking away, her boys in tow.

"How come she likes you more than me?" Daumier looked at me as I sipped my drink.

"I'm prettier." I gave a little shrug, and he just rolled his eyes. I then had a little sad thought but did my best to hide it.

He checked the time some minutes later, and I frowned as I tossed my empty cup away. "We have to go?"

"I don't want Aunt Rosalie throwing a fit at me." He shook his head, and I just nodded. "I'm sorry, Tony. I wish I could do more..."

I shook my head, cutting him off. "You do what you can, and I appreciate it." I gave him a little smile.

Daumier just sighed. "I don't know why he won't just die already. It'd be doing everyone a favor."

I bit my lip, not saying anything. He knew I agreed, but he also knew I couldn't say anything, or I'd never stop.

He tossed his cup and put on his helmet, so I put on mine and got back on his bike to get us home. He snuck us around the back and was my cover so I could slip up to my room and change quickly before we both went into the kitchen.

"And where have you two been?" My mom gave us looks.

"Just into town. And Marie Laveau says she's better at braiding than you." Daumier said, and my brows rose up my forehead, as did hers.

"Did she now?" Mom hummed, then turned and grumbled to herself. "Just cos she's a voodoo queen don't mean she's the queen of everything."

"Hush now, Rosalie. You don't want to start a fight with Marie." Grandma warned.

"I don't start fights." Mom shook her head, and I just stood back and watched it all unfold, not saying a word.

I kept quiet when grandpa came in. "What're Y'all bickering about now?" He huffed and sat down.

"Nothing to concern yourself with," Grandma said to him, but he didn't listen, as his eyes were on me.

"Hey, good-lookin'." He hummed, and I forced a smile and a nod to say hi. "Say, you're almost eighteen, aren't you, sugar?"

I kept silent as grandma swatted at him. I then found it in me to clear my throat a little.

"Uh, Daumier got me some food while we were out. I'm not really hungry. Excuse me..." I said to my mom and slipped out of the kitchen. It wasn't even a secret that I was going to lock myself in my room to keep safe anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

I got to Bio early, as my English class wasn't even a minute away. So I had lots of time to sit back and sip my sweet tea. I gave a small smile to Kyle when he came in, and other than that, we didn't really speak to each other.

I mainly kept to myself as we took notes, but I saw Kyle looking at my extensive notes out of the corner of my eye. He didn't actually say anything until we were a few minutes into working on a packet, and I was on the third page as he was still on the first.

"Are... are you good at this stuff?" He asked softly, and I looked over.

"Pretty good, yeah." I nodded. "You need help?"

"Please." He sighed with a little smile, and I flipped back to the first page and began softly talking him through the questions and the answers so he'd understand. I got us through the packet pretty quickly, which left us the rest of class to just talking quietly.

"So, you're good at science, huh?" He asked.

"Only Bio, really." I shrugged. "I'm better in English."

"I'm better at Math than anything else." Kyle hummed, and I smiled a little.

"You'd be great in Chemistry," I said, and he cracked a small smile.

"Maybe." He gave a small shrug. "Listen, Tony, uh, I'm trying to secure this scholarship, and I need to keep my grades up for this class. Would you mind helping me?" He asked, and I grinned.

"What's in it for me?" I asked.

"My eternal gratitude." Kyle nodded, and I snickered under my breath.

"Alright, I guess I'll help you. Long as you're not an asshole." I agreed.

"I promise I won't be. I'm your new best friend." He grinned cheekily, and I decided to play along.

"Are you, now?" My brows rose. "Don't you think I should decide that?"

"I saved you the trouble and made the decision for you," Kyle said, his smile never leaving his face.

"Oh, well thank you so much." I rolled my eyes a little and saw him trying to hold in a laugh.

The rest of the class pretty much went on like that. Kyle was a pretty easy guy to talk to. He had this warm smile and just seemed super outgoing and friendly. I actually kind of liked him. He was pretty nice.

I was thinking about him when I locked my bedroom door, wondering how such a kind person existed in the world. Kindness wasn't extinct? This was news to me.

Or maybe he wasn't nice at all. Maybe he just wanted me to help him with his grades, so he was playing nice. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened. Maybe he was doing one of those movie jock things where, like, he's dared to date a less popular person or some shit. There ain't no way a pretty boy jock would want anything to do with me.

I then realized I was thinking super stereotypically, and I should cut that shit out. I got a binder out and began working on an English essay. Seven hundred word minimum? Piece of cake.

I spent some time on that and soon got up to look in my vanity mirror, deciding I should switch my hair up a bit. But how? Should I flat iron it, and have it all long and sleek? What about Marley braids? Or maybe I should just stick with natural hair for a while. And after that thought, I decided on box braids.

I got my bag and slipped out of the house, walking to Cornrow City to talk to Miss Marie. I went in and saw an old friend, Queenie, in a chair, and I gave her a smile.

"I haven't seen you in forever, Tony." She said and I went over. "You never come by the school."

"That school don't like our kind," Marie said when she stepped in. "Tony's momma knows better than that, and taught her little girl her powers since she was a baby." She touched my shoulder.

"Now, what are you doing here?" Marie looked at me.

"Just wondering when you wanted to fix my hair." I gave her a sweet smile, and she looked overjoyed.

"Turn around, let me see what we got here." She said and I did so.

"I was thinking about box braids. You think that's a good idea?" I asked.

"I don't see why not. You free Saturday?" She asked and I nodded. "I'll fix you up then. Come in early, alright?"

"Alright." I nodded and said goodbye before I left again. I wanted to grab myself a snack, but my mom would be getting home in an hour...

"Tony. Hey." A voice said, and I looked over and saw Kyle with a group of boys.

Well fuck.

"Hey." I smiled and met him halfway.

"What are you up to?" He smiled, looking happy to see me, and I was ignoring how his friends were looking at me.

"Just running errands. You?" I hummed.

"Just hanging out." He shrugged a little. "Wanna join me?" His smile grew.

"I've gotta be back home in less than an hour..." I pursed my lips, and he gave me puppy eyes, making me laugh. "Fine. Only for a bit."

"I knew you were fun." He grinned and lead me along the sidewalk.

"Oh really?" I raised my brows, and he just grinned.

"Yeah, I know you're not all bookworm." Kyle teased, making me roll my eyes.

We spent some time just talking, sometimes one of the guys would join in with us, but it was mostly just Kyle and I. I heard the rumble of a bike around thirty minutes later, and checked the time again, pursing my lips.

"Sorry, Kyle, I gotta get going," I said and he just smiled.

"It's cool. See you around, Tony." He said and I nodded, turning to walk down the sidewalk as the bike screeched to a stop. I walked over as Daumier took off his helmet and handed it to me.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?" He said.

"Shut up." I groaned as I put the helmet on, secured my bag between us, and held on. He then sped across some lanes to get to the right side of the road and drove us home.

"No, I'm actually very curious. It looked like a reverse interracial gangbang group, Tony." He hissed once we were home and going through the back door.

"Would you shut the fuck up?! I made a friend. So what?" I snapped quietly before I went back up to my room.


	4. Chapter 4

When Saturday came, I left for Miss Marie, and she sat me down in a chair and talked to me as she undid my braids and worked through my hair.

"How's school treating you?" She asked.

"It's alright. I just wanna be done with it." I sighed.

"I am already looking forward to you and all your talent in my shop. I'm thinking of setting up a little station over there for you." She pointed with the end of her comb to a wall by some shelves with wigs on them.

"Really?" I smiled.

"Mhm. I've been placing plenty of orders for products and brushes and the likes for you. And, when you're not making people pretty, I can teach you some about hair, too." She nodded.

"Aw, thank you, Miss Marie. I can't wait." I beamed.

She talked to me as she did my hair, making box braids out of thin air on me. She even asked if there were any boys I liked. When I hesitated, she smiled at my reflection.

"Well, I've only known him a few days. I don't like him yet." I rolled my eyes.

"But?" She hummed.

"But he's very nice. Super friendly." I said and bit my lip. "I almost don't trust him."

Marie laughed at that. "Good. That's a good reason to not trust someone." She nodded, then looked at me again. "Is he cute?"

"Stupidly cute." I huffed and saw her smiling.

"Aw..." She cooed, making me look down out of embarrassment. "Honey, it's about time you started dating. You're nearly an adult and you ain't had one boyfriend yet."

I pressed my lips together, and she fell quiet as well. "He hasn't stopped, has he? That son of a bitch."

My silence was her answer enough.

"Why not turn him in?" She asked.

"He hasn't done anything illegal that we have proof of," I said.

"Throw him in a home." She suggested.

"We tried. They just wanted to take grandma, too." I said and she huffed.

"Tony, baby, listen to me." She leaned down, turning my face to look her in the eyes. "Anytime you need to get away, you come straight here. You hear me?" She said and I nodded in understanding.

"Good girl." She turned me back and continued to work on my hair. "You know I'll always look out for you."

"Thank you." I smiled gratefully.

It took hours until my hair was done, and Miss Marie refused to take my money. She sent me home with a kiss on my forehead, telling me to stay safe.

Mom wasn't too happy when she saw my braids, I knew, but she didn't say anything. I was in a pretty good mood, so I locked the door and put in my earbuds to jam out while I worked on some homework.

My good mood stayed with me till Monday, where I had the top half of my hair up in a bun, and when our teacher said we could listen to music as we worked, I got my earbuds out of my bag happily.

Kyle stole my left earbud and put it in his ear, giving me a smile. "What? I'm curious about what you listen to."

"Alright. You just gotta promise you won't judge me." I said and held up my pinky, and Kyle's smile grew wider as he locked his with mine. I scooted over closer to him as I hit shuffle, one of my favorites coming on. Fuck, it was such an ironic song for me to listen to. I still worked as I listened, though, and Kyle smirked at me moving in my seat.

" _Tell me where you're hiding your voodoo doll, cos I can't control myself. Oh, oh, oh, I don't wanna stay, I wanna run away, but I'm trapped under your spell. And it hurts in my head, and my heart, and my chest, and I'm having trouble catching my breath. Ooh, ooh, won't you please stop loving me to death?_ "

He didn't judge me, and even jokingly danced along with the music at some points, making me smile widely, laughing under my breath at some points.

I couldn't help but hope this would become a frequent thing now.

It was near the end of class when we were packing up, he turned to me, licking his lips a little.

"Hey, why don't you come into town with me? We can study a bit more. That is if you're not too busy." He asked me softly.

I smiled, not really seeing the harm in it. "Yeah, sure. Where are we going?"

"Probably somewhere quiet. Like a cafe." His eyes lit up, making me smile.

"Okay." I agreed. When the bell rang, I followed him out and to his car, and got in. He pulled out from the lot and got into town, jokingly singing a song we just listened to, purposefully getting the lyrics wrong to make me laugh. He street parked and we both grabbed our bags, I left my drink in his car, and we walked to this quiet cafe, and got a booth in the back, opening up our notebooks. A waitress came around to get our drink orders, and I got a mocha while Kyle got some other type of coffee.

"Wow. You take so much better notes than I do." He sighed, starting at my notebook.

"I consider it my special talent." I smiled. "What did you want to go over?" I asked, and he flipped some pages to show me what he didn't get, and I began to talk him through it, watching him jot down my more important notes. When our drinks came, I thanked the girl and drank a bit as he kept writing.

"You are a lifesaver, Tony. Honestly." Kyle breathed.

"You get it?" I asked with a smile.

"I think so, yeah." He nodded, then looked at me, and grinned widely. "Nice mustache." He chuckled and swiped a little whipped cream off my top lip, then licked it off his finger, leaving me slightly stunned before I gathered myself and licked the rest off.

"I get it all?" I asked, and he nodded. "Thanks. Anything else?" I refocused myself by looking back at our notebooks.

"Oh. Um, yeah..." He flipped a few more pages, and I went over other topics with him until he was all caught up. Then we sat there with our drinks, and soon we got little sandwiches to eat and just talked.

It wasn't until after he offered to drive me home, I wondered if this counted as a date?


	5. Chapter 5

Later, I was in Daumier's room, talking him through my thought process.

"Is he actually flirting with me? Or is he just super nice to everyone? What if he's not even interested, and I'm over thinking? What if he is interested and I'm missing my chance?" I groaned.

"Does he laugh and smile around you?" He asked, and I paused.

"He's a really friendly guy, D. He does that with everybody." I rolled my eyes.

"Does he mess with his hair around you?"

"I have no fucking idea. I don't pay attention to that." I shrugged.

"Well, you're going to need to start paying attention. How about touching? Does he touch you? Like your hand or arm or something?"

"He touched my lip today..." I hummed.

"Whoa. Huge sign right there. Hell yeah, he's flirting." Daumier nodded.

"That was just to get some whipped cream off my lip, though." I tried.

"Did he eat it after?"

"Yeah." I nodded, and Daumier just stared at me. "What?"

"Tony, you're not this stupid." He shook his head and I kicked his shin lightly. "Okay, look. Just pay attention to his body language. You're a smart girl."

So I did. Or I at least kept it in mind. I still had to focus on school, though. Duh.

The first thing I noticed when Kyle came into Bio was that he always smiled at me. The next thing was that we had subconsciously moved our chairs to be closer together at some point. Yeah, not just him, I had, too. Our knees now just brushed together, not really touching, and he didn't seem to mind, so I didn't either.

We now listened to music every class, sometimes mine, sometimes his. Kyle still danced stupidly in his seat, still making me smile wide.

I was scared our teacher might say something and make us stop. But then I realized that we were getting 100's on everything, so he probably didn't care what we were doing. Besides, we were in the back of the room, and there were others in the room louder than us.

I couldn't help but think about how Kyle was a sort of relief to me. I was used to being talked to a certain way, so Kyle actually making me smile and laugh rather than making me feel sick to my stomach and wanting to hide was so... refreshing.

It soon came into a schedule that we'd go to that cafe or somewhere else to work on schoolwork. I helped Kyle with Bio, and sometimes English, and sometimes he would help me with Math. I became incredibly comfortable with him, which scared me to no end.

We were right now in the very back booth of a cafe, my earbuds in our ears, notebooks open, coffee half gone. One song he learned the lyrics to came on, and he danced next to me, making me snicker, my hand over my mouth so I wouldn't be too loud.

"Why are you like this?" I hissed, and Kyle just smiled widely at me.

"Aw, come on Tony. You love me, and you know it." He said, and my eyebrows rose teasingly at him.

"You sure about that?" I said, fighting back a smile, but failing.

"You wouldn't spend this much time with me if you didn't," Kyle said cheekily, and touched the tip of my nose, making me smile. "There we go. I told you I'd be your best friend." He looked too proud.

I didn't want to read into that, but I did anyway.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Kyle." I chuckled and sipped my mocha. I liked sugary shit, fight me.

He slipped the earbud out, and I paused the music and did the same, setting my phone aside. He reached for a closed notebook and flipped it open, looking at a page, then set it between us.

"Explain. Please. I hate this book." He said and I leaned over to read it as I sipped my drink. I soon smiled and began going through the analysis for him. I found I wasn't as distracted as I thought I'd be with us so close.

Kyle listened, reading at what I pointed out, and made note of certain things I told him about the book.

"Wait, you aren't one of those people who thinks the character is depressed because his curtains were blue or something, are you?" Kyle asked, and I laughed a bit.

"No, that's stupid." I shook my head. "He's depressed because if you actually read the book and paid attention to his thoughts, it's fucking clear as day, Kyle," I said and got a sheepish smile in return.

"Can you help me think up a topic for the essay?" He asked and I nodded, and he handed me his notebook, where the instructions were written down. So I helped him with that, and since I knew the book so well, I practically wrote half the essay for him in his notebook right then and there.

"Nerd," Kyle teasingly hissed as we packed up our things.

"You have no room to talk." I looked over at him with raised brows.

"I didn't say I wasn't." Kyle grinned at me and paid the bill, and we went to his car. He drove me home and I said bye before he drove away, and I snuck around the back and got up to my room.

I dropped my bag and lied back on my bed after locking the door, and just stared up at the ceiling, trying to sort through my thoughts and feelings.

He touched my face again. He brought up love. Sure, platonic love, but still love. Was that him giving me a sign? I wanted to think so, then wondered why I wanted that. Did I actually like him, or did I like the attention he paid me?

How the fuck do regular ass people do this? How do people deal with emotions like this? I had no fucking idea how.


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay, no, wait." Kyle laughed. "One more time, one more time." He said and quieted so he could listen to me.

"Antoinette." I nodded.

"Antoinette. Okay." Kyle repeated with a nod.

"Jasmine." I smiled wider.

"Jasmine. Got it." He nodded again.

"Vertefeuille," I said with a giant smile as he looked confused.

"Ver... Vert... I give up." He groaned, making me fall back in giggles. "You have the most French name ever created. Wait, are you Creole?"

That made me laugh harder. "It took you that long to figure out I'm Creole?" I asked, and Kyle Spencer answer just laughed with me.

We were sitting in his car with large cups of fries and lemonade, just sitting and talking, joking, laughing. I could've considered this a date, too, if I had the guts to ask.

"You doing anything for Halloween?" He asked and I hummed.

"Not sure yet." I hummed. Miss Marie might want to include me in something, I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to, in fact.

"Well, if you're free, would you maybe wanna come with me to a street party?" He asked. "I know parties aren't really your thing, but I thought I'd ask in case..."

I smiled a bit. "I think I can squeeze you in," I said and watched him smile.

"Cool." He nodded. "You going as anything?" He asked and I shrugged.

I was right in my thinking, I found two weeks later, a few days before Halloween when Miss Marie came by to give me a dress. She told me to come by the shop on Halloween wearing it. I nodded, taking it from her.

Come Halloween, my mom laced up the corset for me, and I had tights and booties with it. My makeup was done, but I was sure Miss Marie would out face paint over it for tradition.

Sure enough, I slipped into the shop and saw four other girls dressed like me, Miss Marie being the grandest of us all. She waved me over and sat me down, starting to apply paint to my skin.

"Gray for authority... purple for royalty and maturity... red for danger... and black for death." She smiled when she was done with me, and I looked over in the mirror at the traditional paint on my face, neck, chest, and arms.

"I'm not royalty," I said softly, looking back to her, and she lowered her face close to mine.

"Like hell, you aren't." She said, tracing my jaw. "I'm the queen, and what I say goes."

I kept quiet and nodded. Did she mean for me to be her high priestess? Did I have that in me?

Come nightfall, we left, Miss Marie keeping me right beside her. We walked the streets a little, spotting the group of witches in all black, and we both threw looks at the other.

"Your boy toy expecting you tonight, darling?" Miss Marie traced my hair, and I gave her a little knowing smile, deciding not to comment on 'boy toy.'

"I did say I'd try to squeeze in time for him," I said.

"Well, I think he's right over there if that time is now." She said, her hand resting on my shoulder. I looked at the blonde curls, then back to Miss Marie. She gave me a nod, and I kissed her cheek before going over to him, unsure what to say.

"Hey." I decided and tugged on his sleeve. He looked confused for a second, then his eyes widened.

"Tony! I didn't even recognize you!" Kyle exclaimed and hugged me. I chuckled and hugged him back. "Look at you. What are you?"

"A witch doctor." I chuckled out of the pure irony.

"I like it." He nodded, eyes trailing me. I saw he had on ripped clothes with patches of brown shaggy fur here and there.

"Werewolf?" I asked and he nodded with a smile.

"I'm not that creative, I know." Kyle gave a shrug.

"Nonsense. You look great." I gave him a smile, and Kyle seemed to look bashful before he took my hands in his, surprising me.

"Dance with me." He smiled widely.

"What?" I asked.

"Come on, Tony. I'm always dancing around you. Dance with me this time." He pulled me further into the crowd, smiling encouragingly at me.

"If you ditch me..." I warned.

"I'm hurt the thought even crossed your mind." Kyle pouted playfully, making me laugh a little. I then stepped a little closer, nervous.

"Can I tell you a secret?" I asked and he nodded. "I don't know how to dance."

"Bullshit, Tony." Kyle looked at me, and I shrugged. He pressed his lips together, staring at me, then raised my hands in his and moved me a little. I tried to hold in the laughter, but it just came out uncontrollably. Luckily for me, Kyle was laughing, too.

I know we probably looked stupid as hell, but it was Halloween. Everyone looked stupid.

After a little while, he took my hand again and walked us out to where the street was a bit more clear and kept close as we walked down the sidewalk, deciding to get some food.

"Verte... Verte... fuel?" Kyle tried to pronounce my last name again.

I giggled and shook my head. "The l's are silent, Kyle. Vertefeuille." I pronounced it slowly for him again.

"V... Vertefeuille?" He tried, and I smiled widely as he got it. "Fucking finally!" He sighed in relief as I chuckled, and we ducked into a beignet shop, getting a takeout box full of them, then snagged a table outside on the sidewalk.

"Wait, did I steal you from your friends?" I asked as I lifted one to eat, pausing as I remembered he was with other people when I first approached.

"Yeah. But I don't care." Kyle shrugged, and I raised my brow at him. "What? I don't. I like spending time with you, Tony."

"I do, too, Kyle. But you don't need to leave your friends for me." I frowned, eating one, licking my lips free of powdered sugar.

"Well, too bad. It's my choice and I want to." He said and stuck his tongue out at me, and I smiled a little sadly.

Kyle scooted over closer to me, and put an arm around my shoulders, making me look up at him. "Tony, I noticed you don't exactly have any other friends. And I'm not too sure those guys I call my friends are actually my friends." He sighed, and I frowned as I swallowed.

"What've they done?" I asked, worried if they hurt him.

"They..." He blew out a little air. "They don't say very nice things about you." He admitted, and I grew quiet, letting my hand drop into my lap after I cleaned it off.

Kyle rubbed my arm a bit. "They don't understand why I'm always around you, and honestly, I'm quite sick of it."

"Oh." I just nodded slowly.

"Tony, no. Not sick of you." He said quickly, getting me to look back up at him. "I'm sick of them. Of all the shit that comes out of their mouths. Not of you. Never of you." He assured me, bringing a little smile to my lips.


	7. Chapter 7

November passed in the blink of an eye, and soon it was Thanksgiving break, and Miss Marie had me working in her shop during the break. I spent my days doing people's makeup, giving them tips on what would look good with their skin tone and bone structure. If I wasn't working on anyone, Miss Marie was teaching me more about hair than what I already knew. She always seemed impressed with my braids, as I tended to do them tight and precise.

I spent some time with Kyle, but once the break was over and it was December, we were back on schedule.

My family noticed I was spending a lot less time at home, but my grades were doing well, so they didn't question it.

Kyle seemed to grow a lot more comfortable with me. In school, we'd be close, but there wasn't much contact. Outside of school, he kept a hold on me all the time. His arm would either be around my shoulders, around my back or looped through my arm as both of our hands were in our jacket or hoodie pockets.

I was excited one class because we were doing a lab, and these labs weren't all that bad. Kyle came in, saw my excitement, and groaned.

"Lab day?" He asked, dropping his bag on the floor.

"Lab day." I nodded. His head rolled over and he gave me puppy eyes, making me snicker. "That's pointless, Kyle. You're already my partner."

"Yeah, but maybe one day you decide you're sick of me and you stop helping me." He said.

"That's not going to happen. We're in this together." I pushed his arm lightly, getting him to smile.

"Alright. What's the lab?" He asked.

"We're recreating one of our bodies. We have to put in all the systems, all organs, most of the bones, and make sure everything is properly labeled." I said.

"Let's recreate your body," Kyle said.

"Why mine?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"So I can be childish when we do the reproductive system." He gave me a grin, and I bit my lip to hold back laughter.

"I don't know why I expected anything else." I sighed, getting him to laugh.

We got some giant sheet of paper big enough for me to lay on, and we opted to go out in the hallway to work. I took off my hoodie and shoes so he could trace me onto the paper, I rolled my eyes every time he cracked some joke about whatever. I tried not to feel things when his hand got close to my chest or my thighs, and especially not when he went between my thighs, and he hissed an apology to me, and I just shook my head and said it was fine.

I failed in not feeling things.

When he was done, I had him copy the list of parts we were given onto the sheet, and I worked on mapping out the different systems and body parts.

We both nearly lost it when he was writing down the reproductive parts, and all he said in that time was, "ha, a vagina." I don't know why that was so funny, but we both nearly died right there in the hallway at it and was still trying not to laugh minutes later.

"We should've given you a camel toe or something." He said, staring at the reproductive organs I was drawing.

"We should not have. And stop staring at paper me's vagina." I said and covered it with my free hand.

"I'm sorry, paper Tony." He apologized, and I bit back a laugh then. "When we're done and it's graded, can I keep this?"

"Why do you want this?" I asked in confusion.

"It's art." He nodded, and I rolled my eyes.

"I think he wants to keep them for whatever reason. But I'm taking a picture because I mean... I look good." I nodded and Kyle snickered.

We managed to finish before the bell rang, and we both took pictures of it on our phones, then turned it in.

"Wanna go to the cafe? We can buy a whole cake." He asked as I put my hoodie back on.

"You're a mind reader, Kyle. Swear to God." I smiled, and when the bell rang, we went off to his car, and got to the cafe, getting our usual booth, and got large drinks and an entire chocolate cake to split.

"To paper Tony." Kyle lifted his mug of coffee.

"Paper Tony." I smiled and let my mocha mug meet his gently, and he stole some whipped cream off my drink before I pulled it away. I gave him a playful glare as I drank, then started on some cake, happily wiggling in my seat. Halfway through that slice, I turned and got a notebook and a book out of my bag.

"Really, Tony? Are you ever not working on English?" He asked as I uncapped my pen, only to find out it had run out of ink. I tossed it into my bag and started to look for another one, but Kyle was already holding one out for me.

"Thanks." I gave him a smile and began writing stuff down. "And no. I happen to like English, Kyle, and I want the best grades possible in that class."

"I can't wait to see your report card." He chuckled.

"It's funny that you think I'm showing you my report card." I grinned, halfway teasing him.

"It's cute that you think you're not." Kyle retorted, and I only shook my head as I jotted down quotes and passages to use in an essay.

"Hey," Kyle hummed a few minutes later. "What do you want for Christmas?"

I looked up. "You don't have to get me anything for Christmas." I shook my head.

"Yes, I do. Now tell me." He whined.

"No." I chuckled. "Just wait a few days for my birthday. It's January ninth. Everyone else does." I shrugged.

"Are you telling me you don't get presents on Christmas because your birthday is... what? Two weeks after? Bullshit. Now you have you tell me two things you want." Kyle said.

"Only if you tell me what you want for Christmas," I said and grabbed my phone, going to the note where I was already planning for my mom, Daumier, and grandma.

"Books." Kyle nodded, and I smiled and typed it in next to his name.

"Books." I looked up at him, and he blinked before he realized what I meant.

"Oh! Oh, you mean books, too." He said and scratched it down while I chuckled at him.

"Right. Books." He nodded and looked like he was thinking hard, making me smile as I continued working.


	8. Chapter 8

I went to this super affordable second-hand bookstore where all books were five dollars or less. I had a list of my favorites he asked me about and looked to be interested in and bought copies of them all. When I got home, I got a huge box to put them all in, then had my mom wrap it because I sucked at wrapping.

Christmas Day, Kyle texted me that he was on his way to drop off my present, and I told him to come around the back door. I was in my PJ's with no makeup and a headscarf, but I was sure he didn't care.

I waited by the back door for him and beamed when I saw his face pink from the cold. I put my finger to my lips for him to be quiet as I let him in, and snuck him up my room, and locked my door behind us.

"Your family would flip if you had someone over too, huh?" He asked and I smiled with a shrug. He got the backpack off his shoulders and handed me the box inside it, and I pushed the huge box over to him and giggled at the look of surprise on his face.

"Tony, what did you do?" He shed his coat, then dropped to his knees to unwrap it. I smiled proudly and sat on my bed, unwrapping mine, and my jaw dropped at the huge tumbler cup with a bunch of book quotes I recognized on it.

"Aw, Kyle. I love it. Thanks." I ran my fingers over it.

"Tony..." Kyle laughed my name, and I looked up and saw the utter happiness on his face as he dug through the books. "You fucking nerd."

"You love me." I teased.

"Yeah." He agreed, and his blush just got a twinge deeper, and I told myself it was from the cold. "I didn't know you read Jane Austen." He hummed as he held up Emma.

"Not really, but Emma just takes a shit on anybody with an opinion, it's kinda funny." I shrugged with a smile.

"I'm almost surprised Romeo and Juliet isn't in here." Kyle chuckled and I groaned, making him laugh as he knew how much I hated Romeo and Juliet.

Kyle set down the books and came to sit beside me on my bed, and I set aside my present as we sat shoulder to shoulder. I peeked over out of the corner of my eye and saw Kyle biting his bottom lip.

"You okay?" I asked softly. He didn't answer, only pursed his lips like he was thinking about something. "Kyle?" I bumped him softly.

"I think we can't bring people over to our houses for the same reason, Tony." He said softly, and I watched him, trying to figure out what he meant. I mean, I knew what he meant, I just... I didn't know how he knew.

He looked over to me, eyes locking onto mine. "You show the signs more clearly than I do."

I turned to stare at the rug, almost ashamed. His hand moved and I saw his palm facing up between us, waiting for me. I gathered my strength and placed my hand over his, and Kyle laced our fingers together, making me smile sadly.

"I don't want us to spend our time together in public. I'd love to just relax in one of our rooms with you, Tony. But..." He trailed off, and I sniffed a little, nodding.

Then my eyebrows pinched together as I remembered something. "We might be able to. Here." I said, and he looked over. I swallowed thickly and gathered my strength to tell him. "My grandpa can't walk up stairs, which is why I'm one of the two people that has an upstairs bedroom, with a door that locks. Just for in case." I said and he nodded, stroking my hand with his thumb.

"We'd have to be really quiet, though." I bit my lip, and Kyle nodded again, and we fell back into silence.

It was minutes until Kyle spoke again. "I, um. I have another sort of gift if you want it."

"What is it?" I looked over and watched his eyes shyly meet mine.

"A kiss?" He asked softly, and I smiled a little and gave a nod.

I saw him start to lean in, so I closed my eyes and prepared myself, and felt his lips softly press against mine. I tried my hardest not to smile, and after a few seconds, Kyle pulled back but kept his face close.

"Merry Christmas, Tony." He whispered, and I did smile.

"Merry Christmas, Kyle." I hummed before I kissed him this time.

We kept it soft and gentle, our lips never really leaving each other's, just pushing together sweetly. We now knew that both of us had boundaries that we'd have to be careful not to cross. If this was the start of our relationship, I'm sure we'd be taking it pretty slowly, even though we were already quite comfortable with each other.

Just as I thought that Kyle's tongue brushed over my bottom lip, and I shivered a little. He pulled back and put his forehead on mine.

"I'm sorry. Was that too much?" He asked and I shook my head, my eyes begging him to kiss me again. "Do you mind? I just... I wanna know what it feels like."

"Please." I breathed, and he chuckled softly before kissing me again, his tongue going a little slower over my lip, and I let mine part to let him in.

As expected, we were both very careful as we kissed. I always thought French kissing was sort of ridiculous because honestly, having someone else's tongue in your mouth just sounds gross. But here I was, thoroughly enjoying teasing Kyle's with my own.

I wanted to touch him badly. Not like, _touch him_ touch him, more like hold his shoulders or something. Our fingers were already laced together for one hand, which I was fine with. But I needed to touch him somehow to let him know I liked this. I liked him.

I raised a hand and let it hover over his cheek, just as a sort of warning, until Kyle grabbed it and pushed it to his skin. Then his free hand held the back of my head to keep me close, bringing us closer together.

I let my thumb trace over the heated skin of his cheek and felt his jaw moving under the soft skin. After a minute or so, we broke apart, foreheads together, just breathing. My thumb still traced his cheek, and I saw him smile softly.

"This has been one of the best Christmases ever," Kyle said, making me smile wide.


	9. Chapter 9

For a lot of winter break, Kyle would park down the street and sneak in through the back door, and creep up to my room so we could spend the day together. He asked if I was working at the shop as I did over Thanksgiving break, and I said no. The shop was closed over the slight snow we got.

I didn't expect Kyle and I to be all over each other now, and we weren't. We mostly lied in my bed, watching movies or TV, eating junk food, whatever. If we weren't doing that, we were curled under the covers together, talking softly about anything and everything.

Though sometimes we would just lay in the quiet, our hands joined, a brush of skin against a cheek or something. Just us being warm and comfy.

"You believe in ghosts?" Kyle asked one day while we were curled up together, and I smiled softly.

"Yeah," I whispered.

"Why?" He asked.

"Why not?" I gave a small shrug and watched him smile.

"Fair. What about aliens?" He asked.

"Aliens too." I nodded, and Kyle chuckled softly. "You can't tell me you think we're completely alone in the universe."

Kyle gazed at me for a few seconds, just smiling. "Alright. Then what about soulmates?"

I paused for a moment with my mouth slightly open, thinking. "I think... I think we make our own soulmates."

"You don't believe in fate?" He asked, his fingers sliding along mine.

"I like making my own choices." I chuckled.

Kyle hummed and nodded. "I like that. We make our own soulmates." He smiled, then just let his fingers trail across the skin on my hands.

"You wouldn't think I'm crazy if I said I wanted to make you my soulmate, would you?" He murmured.

"No," I smiled softly, and he gazed for another second before sliding closer and pressing his lips to mine softly. I kissed him back, my fingers brushing across his cheek, wanting to live in this moment forever.

I couldn't explain how happy Kyle made me, mostly because it scared me how much he made me happy.

I didn't want the kiss to end, but his lips tasted so sweet when they left mine and I bit my lip softly, studying his pretty dark eyes.

"Do you feel as insane as I feel, Tony?" He asked, and I giggled softly.

"A bit, yeah." I nodded, and he smiled widely. Kyle laughed a little, making me cover my face to muffle myself. I soon leaned forward and pressed my face into his shoulder, and Kyle's arms came around me to hold me gently.

Once we both calmed, Kyle continued to hold me there, and I let my arm rest across his stomach.

"I'm sad." Kyle sighed softly.

"Why?" I shifted to look up at him.

"Because of what our families do to us. If my mom didn't..." He trailed off with a huff. "I wouldn't be so scared to have a relationship. I wouldn't stress that you might hurt me, though I know you won't. Or that I might accidentally hurt you, though I really don't want to."

I blinked, rubbing his arm. "I know what you mean, Kyle," I said softly, and he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.

"It's bullshit." He sighed. "It's hard to stop them, I know, but it's as you said. I like to make my own choices. And I want to be in a relationship where I don't have to worry if I'll start panicking when someone touches me. Where I don't have to stress over where I can touch you safely that won't make you cringe and cry. I fucking hate it."

I then scooted up a little and met his eyes. "Okay. How about this? I... I can't sit someone's lap. It freaks me out too much. I can't do it. You?" I started.

Kyle swallowed thickly. "Neck kisses. Can't stand them." He said softly and I nodded, keeping it in mind. "I'm going to go ahead and bet neither of us is going to do anything near our hips or thighs, are we?"

"At least not until we're a hundred and twenty percent comfortable with each other." I nodded.

We spent a good long time just talking about what we couldn't stand. Kyle said he'd try his best to remember, but if he crossed a line, I was to tell him immediately. I promised and made him promise the same. We both wanted this to work between us, we needed to know our boundaries, our limits, and triggers.

Daumier came up and asked softly what we wanted for lunch, and I said anything was fine. He nodded and left, saying he'd back in a minute, and I closed and locked the door again.

"The rest of your family tries to protect you?" Kyle asked.

"They try, yeah." I nodded, sitting beside him. "My mom hates it, honestly. She thinks they treat me too much like Rapunzel or something. A prisoner." I rolled my eyes.

"What do you think?" Kyle asked.

"Staying locked in my room is better than... you know," I said and he nodded.

"You ever think about killing him? Your grandpa?" He asked.

"All the time." I nodded with a whisper.

"Why don't you?"

"I know I'd be caught." I bit my lip. "You?"

"I know I'd be caught, too." Kyle nodded. "It's only my mom and I. I'd be the obvious suspect."

"My grandpa is on oxygen when he's asleep. You have no idea how often I think about sneaking into his room at night and lighting it up." I sighed with a little chuckle. "I'd do it and blame it on the electricity if it wouldn't burn the house with it."

"I think about slipping rat poison or something into her food." Kyle shook her head. "That's too obvious, though. I just try to think of the days when I'll get away from home, away from her."

"It's not far." I smiled at him. "You've got that scholarship. In a few months, you'll be in college, away from her."

Kyle smiled for a moment, then it dropped. "But you're not going to college. You're not getting away."

"I have another place to stay if things get drastic." I gave him a smile.

"Where's that?" He asked.

"You know Cornrow City?" I asked, and Kyle furrowed his brows.

"Hair salon in the Ninth Ward?" He asked and I nodded.

"The owner, Marie, is a family friend. She's always looked out for me and Daumier." I said, and Kyle smiled happily.

"That's good." He nodded. There was another knock, and I opened the door and Daumier handed me a tray with some sandwiches, soup, and soda on it. I thanked him and brought it in.

Kyle kissed my forehead before we started eating, and I knew that at least I'd be okay with him.


	10. Chapter 10

The break ended, and I went to school on the ninth, my birthday, hiding my excitement when Kyle came into Bio with a huge smile.

"Happy birthday, Tony." He grinned as he sat next to me, and dug in his bag and pulled out a small box. I smiled as I unwrapped it, seeing this gold necklace, the pendant is a circle with tiny rhinestones in it connected by lines.

"I Googled your birthday and saw you were a Capricorn, so I found these necklaces with Zodiac star signs on them. It's not the sign for Capricorn, but the constellation, see?" Kyle explained, and I smiled widely.

"I love it. Thank you so much." I looked up at him. Kyle smiled widely back at me.

Sadly, I couldn't spend time with him this afternoon, as Daumier and my mom were planning something, and Kyle said that was fine and we parted ways outside with a long kiss. I walked home through the woods, in a good mood. Why wouldn't I be in a good mood?

I got in the back door, a little surprised to see my grandpa just down the short hallway in the kitchen. I tried to get up the stairs, but he already spotted me and was coming over. He easily grabbed my backpack and tugged me back down into the hall with him.

I kept myself collected on the outside, but on the inside, I could feel my heart going a mile a minute, and I swear I was going to piss myself.

He tilted his head slightly and took my backpack straps off my shoulders, and I flinched a little at the loud thud when it hit the floor.

"So you're eighteen today, huh, good lookin'?" He hummed, brushing my braids over my shoulder, his withered finger brushing over my collarbones.

"Stop." I whimpered, raising my hand to push him away, but he gave me a warning glare that made me bite my tongue. I hated how he could make me feel powerless with just a look.

He took a step closer, and I tried to get to the door, but he only grabbed me and forced me to the wall. I opened my mouth to scream, but he put his hand over my mouth and forced my head to the side.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but the tears still leaked out as I felt his hot, damp breath against my neck, his hips pinning me to the wall. I grit my teeth to gather my strength, get myself together, and decide I wasn't taking this anymore. I'm fucking stronger than this.

He wasn't holding my other hand, so I raised it slowly, then swiped across his face, feeling the skin tear under my nails. He yelled out, and I got out the back door as fast as I could.

I ran all the way to Miss Marie's, the tears still falling, and I couldn't give a shit about the looks I was getting as I ran.

I slowed outside the door and stepped in, and the girl at the register just stared with wide eyes. I looked around and spotted Miss Marie, and it didn't take her a second to figure out what had happened.

"Nish, take over this for me. Tony, baby, come on." She held her hand out for me, and I almost took her hand, until I noticed the blood on my fingers, and I started to panic a little.

She took me up to her apartment, and she pointed to the leather couch. I sat down, and she came back after a few seconds with a wet washcloth and a box of tissues. She cleaned the blood off my hand, and I kept wiping away my tears, trying to calm myself down.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" She asked softly and I shook my head, trying to find words.

"C- Can I...?" My lip was wobbling too much, making it hard to speak properly.

"Yes, of course, honey." She held my cheek for a moment. "You sit tight and work on taking deep breaths, okay? I'm calling your momma and telling her where you are. She'll probably bring you some clothes and things. I'll be right back, okay?" She spoke softly, and I nodded, and took a deep inhale, working on breathing deeply to calm myself.

It didn't even take an hour for my mom to swing by with a bag of my things. She told me she called my school and told them I was attacked and taking some days off to recover, and I thanked her, hugging her tight.

Miss Marie kept me drinking tea and somehow got me to eat a bit to stop my hands from shaking. It took a few hours for me to finally collect myself, and I asked if I could take a shower. Miss Marie left me with a kiss to my temple, and I went to the bathroom to wash off all the disgust with scalding hot water that probably would've burned me if I were a normal person.

When I was done, I camped out on her couch in my PJ's, watching TV to distract myself, holding onto another cup of tea. When she came back up, she took my hand, sitting with me. I gave her a smile, turning off the TV with a flick of my fingers.

"How is ya feeling, sugar?" Miss Marie asked.

"Better." I nodded, my throat a little hoarse from all the crying.

"You need some honey in that tea, honey." She said, making me smile. I fell quiet again, as I didn't know what to do with myself.

"It'll get better someday." She said softly, and I just nodded. "Now, what can we do that'll make you feel even better?" She hummed, and I smiled softly into my tea.

"What? Tell Auntie Marie." She grinned, making me giggle a little.

"You know how long my hair is?" I hummed and she nodded, her fingers trailing through my braids. "I was thinking about going natural. You know, a big ass afro."

She smiled wide. "A big ass afro on your tiny little self?"

"I'm not that tiny." I couldn't help but smile a little wider.

"Sweetie, you're speaking my language. Ain't nothing that'll make you feel better than a change." She smiled, took my hand, and lead me back down to the shop, a smile just growing on my face.


	11. Chapter 11

I kind of sort of forgot to tell Kyle what happened, so two days later, I wasn't really surprised at the rush of panicked texts I got when Bio class would've been starting. I told him to calm down, I was okay. He asked if something drastic happened, and I said yes. He then told me he'd be at Cornrow City right after school.

"Boy toy?" Marie knocked her hip with mine, and I smiled a little.

"He was worried about me," I said.

"Of course he would be. He being good to you?" She asked, giving me a look.

"Yes," I smiled a little wider. "He's coming to see me in a little over an hour. He's really nice if you wanna meet him." I bit my lip.

"I gotta look out for my girl, don't I?" She gave me a smile. "Go on and get prettied up." She nodded to the stairs, and I went up to make myself look a little more like I wasn't a fucking mess.

As promised, Kyle came in about an hour and five minutes after and hugged me tightly. It was only for a second, though, before he pulled back and looked at me.

"Whoa, hey. I like your hair. Makes you look all cute and small." He smiled as I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not even that small..." I huffed, and he chuckled.

"You're okay?" He asked and I nodded.

"Hey. Go on and take the girl out." Marie said, and I pursed my lips in a smile.

"Kyle, Aunt Marie. Aunt Marie, Kyle." I introduced.

"You treat my girl right." She said to him.

"Yes, ma'am." Kyle nodded and I dragged him out, just a little embarrassed.

Kyle then looked down at me as our hands were linked together. "You're sure you're okay?"

"Marie's been drowning me in tea and beignets. I'm doing alright." I nodded, and he chuckled a little.

"Okay. So, what do you wanna do?" He asked, swinging our hands a bit.

"No fucking idea." I blew out some air. "What do normal people do?"

"You tell me." Kyle chuckled. "Oh, let's see, you're probably sick of warm drinks, so no coffee..."

"Thank you." I sighed, making him smile.

"Oh. I know." He said, and I looked over to see his lit up eyes. "We can go to a bowling alley, eat all the cheese fries and shitty food we want, and show off how horrible we are at bowling."

He made me laugh a bit. "Horrible? Excuse you, I am the best at Wii bowling."

"That's Wii bowling, Tony. Not real bowling." Kyle said, pulling me along.

"It's still bowling, though." I pointed out with a smile.

Kyle pulled me into the bowling alley, and we got a lane and our shoes. I told Kyle to set us up while I ordered us some food and drinks. When the tray of cheese fries, chicken tenders, and loaded nachos came with two large cokes, I brought it over to our table and looked up at the screen.

"You seriously did not name me Ironman." I sighed as Kyle grinned.

"What? Your name is Tony." He shrugged.

"Who are you, then?" I raised my eyebrow.

"I'm obviously Black Widow." He rolled his eyes, making me giggle as I ate a fry.

We got on with the game, and I was a bit better than I had actually expected to be. I wasn't even using magic, but once I realized I could, I made sure I got a strike every once in a while to keep me ahead.

I'm a little competitive. Fight me.

After getting another strike, I turned to Kyle sipping his coke and gave him a huge smile.

"Okay, okay. So you're a good Wii bowler and a real-life bowler." He hummed, and I sat beside him and pecked his lips.

"You're pretty good, too, ya know," I said as he got up to bowl.

"Thanks, babe." He smiled, shaking his head.

"Course, babe." I smiled and picked up another chicken tender after dipping it in ketchup. I cheated a little to get him some strikes, too or just overall good scores. I was competitive, sure, but I liked seeing him happy.

So I made the game so he won, and I playfully pouted until he kissed me, making me smile.

"It was a good game, babe. You did really well." He rubbed my arm as we finished off our food, returned the shoes and still drank our cokes as we left.

"Yeah?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah." Kyle smiled proudly down at me. He squeezed my hands in his, making me blush slightly.

"You are just too cute." He sighed, and I smiled wider.

A little down the street, Kyle tugged on my hand and lead me behind a building. I was confused until he brushed some hair from my face.

"Can I kiss you?" He breathed, and I smiled and nodded. Kyle took my cheeks in his hands and kissed me, making my heart swell, and I tried my very hardest to not smile as I kissed him back. I welcomed him when he licked over my lip, having missed this and how he made me feel over the past couple of days.

I ended up ruining the kiss by smiling, but Kyle didn't seem to care as he kept pecking my lips. I tried kissing him back again, but just couldn't because of my giggling, which soon had him laughing a bit.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, and Kyle just shook his head.

"I love kissing you, Tony, but I love seeing you happy even more." He said, and my cheeks started to hurt from beaming.

"Come back tomorrow after school?" I asked.

"If you want me here." Kyle traced my cheek.

"You make me happy," I admitted, and saw him smile brightly.

"Good. You make me happy, too." He then kissed me again before walking me back to the shop. He promised he'd see me tomorrow, and left once I stepped in.

"Don't you look happier." Marie smiled at me, and I blushed a little and headed up, hearing her laughter behind me.


	12. Chapter 12

I returned to school the next week, and Kyle was so happy to have me back. It was only the third week of January, but he told me he was already planning for Valentine's day.

So, naturally, I couldn't wait for Valentine's day.

I told him he better not buy me any presents, to which Kyle said, "who the fuck do you think I am?"

I moved back into my house after two weeks, and Daumier told me that everyone was keeping a close eye on grandpa now.

When Valentine's day came, I didn't dress up or anything, I was in my regular old casual clothes. When I met Kyle out in the bus loop, since we didn't have Bio on even days, he was dressed casually too.

"Thank God. I was hoping you weren't dressed up. Then I'd feel awful." He sighed, taking my hand and lead me to his car. He drove us the short distance to my house and got us up to my room.

"You gotta promise me you won't laugh from how cheesy it is." Kyle gave me a small smile as he dug through his bag.

"I promise." I grinned, and he smiled wider and took out a CD case from his bag and went over and put it in my TV to play. He handed me the case, where the songs were listed on the back, and I saw it was all of our favorites, and then some.

"I call it ours. They're all of our songs." Kyle came over, and I hugged him tightly, tossing the case onto my bed. He held my waist and hugged me back, swaying us a little to the music playing.

"I made a second one, a copy, for me so we both have one. I mean, yeah." He stuttered slightly, and I kissed his cheek before letting him see my smile.

"It's perfect." I beamed.

"You think so?" He asked softly, and I nodded hard.

"Dance with me?" I bit my lip as I asked, and Kyle chuckled.

"Isn't it me who's supposed to ask?"

"Then ask me." I smiled, just overjoyed.

"Tony, will you dance with me?" He held out a hand, and I took it. He spun me a little, making me giggle before bringing me to his chest so we could dance together.

I sang along to a lot of them, and Kyle joined in on the ones he knew. He surprised me with some that were my favorites that he learned the lyrics to. And I guess I surprised him as I learned the lyrics to some of his favorites as well.

I heard the guitar of one song that always got me excited, and Kyle chuckled at me perking up.

"No, no. You don't understand. This song was leaked before the album came out, and all us fans we're insane over it for months. It was the most beautiful thing we ever heard." I gushed.

"You're adorable, you know?" Kyle smiled at me, then surprised me when he started singing along. I just smiled up at him, my chest doing and feeling things that made me question my sanity.

" _Cos nobody knows you, baby, the way I do,_  
 _And nobody loves you, baby, the way I do,_  
 _It's been so long, it's been so long,_  
 _You must be fireproof,_  
 _Cos nobody saves me, baby, the way you do._ "

When the song was over, I stretched up on my toes and kissed him, not even paying attention to whatever song was next. Kyle had me nearly tearing up with that.

After a moment, he pulled back slightly. "Tony, I think I might love you." He said quickly.

I didn't picture the first 'I love you' to go like this. I'd always been realistic and imagined it'd happen out of the blue and I'd freeze up before probably making a fool of myself. I didn't think that when someone told me they loved me for the first time, I'd smile so wide my cheeks hurt, and hug them as tightly as I could. But that's what I did.

"I think I might love you, too, Kyle," I said softly. I heard and felt him sigh, then turn my face back to his so he could kiss me.

Once again, I was smiling a bit too much. Kyle then just leaned his forehead against mine.

"God, fuck, I've been meaning to say that for a while now." He breathed. "Should my heart be racing?" He then asked, making me giggle a bit.

"Yeah, mine is, too." I nodded. Fuck, it felt like I was going to have a heart attack or something.

Kyle smiled at my giggles before he laughed a little himself. I watched him, making myself remember how he looked right now. This is how I wanted to remember him when we were low. I wanted to keep this bright, happy Kyle in my mind for rainy, dark days, even if the weather was fair.

But soon we were lying back on my bed, Kyle over me, kissing me deeply. My hands were buried in his blond curls, and there was a hum in the back of my throat that could've been a moan, maybe.

"Are you okay with this?" Kyle looked up to ask, and I nodded, stroking his cheeks with my thumbs.

"Are you?" I asked, and he nodded before moving in to kiss me again, his tongue parting my lips, making me grow excited.

I didn't want to rush into anything, though. I didn't know if Kyle was ready for that. Was I, even?

I thought about starting with light touches. And then I realized I wasn't even sure what light touches were. All I've ever known was when people were in the mood, they go for the good bits. But I wasn't about to go and reach for his dick and make him uncomfortable. No way in hell would I ever do that to him.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, gazing down at me when I opened my eyes again, and I bit my lip softly.

"If, um..." I took a breath and told myself to chill. "If you wanted to touch me a bit... I'd be cool with it." I told him, blushing slightly.

"You're sure?" Kyle asked, and I nodded. He leaned back down, kissing me a bit softer, and one of his hands trailed up my side, sliding along the dip of my waist. His hands then met my stomach above my shirt, and I could tell he was being cautious, pausing now and then, giving me a chance to tell him to stop if I wanted.

I didn't want him to stop.


	13. Chapter 13

I was in my room, alone, mulling over my feelings, letting flames pass from one fingertip to another. I just watched the fire my hand had created, thinking deeply.

I was sort of taking a huge step here. I still wanted to pace myself, and I would, I just didn't know how fast that pace was.

There was a knock at my door, and I let the flame extinguish before I answered, letting in Daumier.

"Miss Marie wants to see you in her shop." He said and I nodded and got going, slipping in, and a girl pointed me to the back room, where Marie usually did her rituals.

"You asked for me?" I spoke up.

"Tony, there you are." She stood up and came over to me, and I saw ritual items on the floor behind her.

"Listen, honey, it's four months until you graduate. We need to get some affairs in order." She nodded and pulled out a very old looking book. "Now, since you was a baby, setting everything on fire, your momma and I have been talking about you holding a position in our world."

"What position?" I asked.

"Rosalie wants you as a regular old manbo. I say no. I told her, 'that girl is destined for greater things.' And I know you are, sweetness." Marie touched my cheek with a smile. "You're going to be my second in command. My High Priestess."

I wasn't entirely surprised, honestly. I'd seen this coming for a while now.

"Do you really think I'm up for it? I don't even use my magic that much..." I looked down at my hands.

"You don't need to." She shook her head. "It comes naturally to you, darling. That's how I know you're the one. You don't need to think about using magic, you don't need to put effort into it. Shit, I'll throw you in a furnace just to prove my point." She said, making me smile wider and wider.

"Those witches are up to something. They don't know it yet, but something's coming. I need you by my side." Marie said, and I nodded.

"Atta girl." She patted my shoulder. "Once you graduate, I'll induct you."

She then looked a bit too excited. "This pyre is going to make Khaleesi look like nothing more than a piece of coal." She smiled at me, making me laugh.

"That big, huh?" I asked.

"That powerful. You'll light it yourself. Show the spirits how powerful you are. Prove yourself worthy to our people." Marie smiled proudly at me. "That fire is going to be so big, and burn so bright, the witches will know we have something they don't."

Marie stroked my jaw with her finger at my slight confusion. "Power. Those bitches think they're so high and mighty when all they do is leech of our magic. It amuses me, really, how they think they're so powerful when most of them can only do one thing at a time. But us? We can do anything."

I knew Marie was right, but there was one question on my mind.

"What about Queenie?" I asked, and she rubbed my arm and sat us down.

"Queenie is a special case. She has Salem witch blood and blood from our tribe. I'd love to have her here with us, but that damn school keeps her away from us." Marie sighed.

"Let's do something to the school, then." I hummed, and Marie gave me a little look.

"We'll plan, but it's not time yet. They need time to cook." She chuckled, and I gave a little smile and nodded.

I didn't mind the witches personally, but at times like Halloween night, where we cross paths and they look at us like we're scum, that makes me want to burn them all. For good this time.

I didn't like people fighting each other, for whatever reason. But those witches needed to understand that we were here first. They wouldn't be shit if it weren't for us. Tituba gives them power, and how do they thank us? By smearing our name and driving us into the ground. Now they got a big old school, and we have a motherfucking salon.

Now they were going extinct, and our tribe? We could never die out. We're stronger, simply put.

"I wanna use that Fiona Goode's face as an ashtray." I hummed.

"You and me both, sweetness." Marie rubbed my back. "Now, listen, before we do crown you and all, you've gotta do some studying. Learn the rituals, the herbs, the liquors."

"I know them. My mom taught me." I said.

"Your momma taught you the light side. As High Priestess, you need to know the dark side, too." Marie said, and I nodded in understanding.

She got up and handed me a few really old leather-bound books, like she one she had earlier. "Study these cover to cover. All three of 'em cover most everything. I'll test you once you got them." She said and I nodded again.

She then sent me off, and I went back home, going up to my room, and got out a notebook and started to study.

I hardly noticed time passing as I jotted down notes for rituals on revenge, wealth, power, some curses, dangerous and/or lethal potions, and finally, necromancy.

I knew Marie was extremely gifted with necromancy. If I had to guess, I'd say she wanted me to be good at it, too, possibly above all other magicks.

I knew my family would murder me for doing black magic in the house, so I went into the backyard, where there were some dead plants. I had to start small, didn't I?

I focused on a life energy, and tried to call out to the Lwa as I held my hand to a dead bush, and felt something brush my hand. I looked up and saw it was lush and green again, and I smiled widely.

Maybe Miss Marie was right. Maybe I was far more powerful than I actually believed.


	14. Chapter 14

March had come, and I found myself busy with schoolwork, studying to be the next High Priestess, and Kyle because I always wanted there to be time for him.

I was doing pretty okay at managing it all, too. Kyle and I would work on our schoolwork before spending time together, and when we parted, I would work on my voodoo studies.

I kept Queenie in mind and wanted to go and visit her. Maybe talk her into joining the tribe?

I got myself dressed and left on a Friday afternoon, going over to Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies... what a long ass bullshit name for a school.

I slipped through the gate and knocked on the door, and waited for a moment before this... not so handsome guy with long, stringy hair answered the door.

"Hi. I'm looking for Queenie?" I asked, and he held up a finger and closed the door. I went and leaned against a pillar as I waited. Some minutes later, she came out and looked surprised to see me.

"Tony. Hey. Come in." She said, and I gave the door a wary look.

"It's probably better if I don't," I said and she shrugged and closed the door, coming over.

"What's up?" She asked and I sighed.

"I'll just get to the point. In a few months, I'm going to be crowned High Priestess." I said and her jaw dropped. "I know it's asking a lot, but... I want you to be there with me."

"You... want me to join?" She asked slowly.

"Literally only Marie and Gummy talk to me. I need people there I know, that I can trust." I said.

"Well, what about your family?" She asked.

"Grandma has to look out for grandpa, so she hardly does anything anymore. My mom doesn't even want me to be the High Priestess... that just leaves Daumier. And he's not even that gifted." I hissed the last bit.

"Tony, look, I'd love to, but I can't." She said, and I pursed my lips.

"Eh, I knew it was a longshot anyway." I shrugged.

"I don't see why I can't be both." Queenie huffed.

"Because witches are stuck up bitches who treat the tribe like we're shit?" I offered, and Queenie gave a laugh.

"Yeah, that's probably it." She nodded as I grinned.

"One day, when the two sides can work together, then you better prepare for the indictment ritual," Queenie said, and I smiled wider.

"You know I will." I hummed, and the door opened behind us.

"Fatass. Cordelia says stop scheming with the voodoo skank and get back in." A blonde girl in an expensive dress said, and I rolled my eyes slightly.

"Madison, I will eat you. Don't test me." Queenie warned. The blonde just rolled her eyes and scoffed before shutting the door again.

"It's cool. I gotta study anyway." I hummed, pushing myself off the pillar. "See ya around, girl." I smiled at her.

"Yeah, see you." She said and went back in as I walked down the stairs and out the gate.

I was walking back home when a car honked, and I turned to see what was happening, and then saw Kyle pull up beside me in his car. I smiled as he unlocked his car, and we didn't need to say a word; I got in all the same.

Kyle pecked my lips before he drove off, parking in a spot we called our own where we usually came with cups of fries to eat as we talked.

Kyle gazed at me with his mouth slightly open for a moment, then sighed.

I just smirked. "D'you want me in the backseat or not?" I asked and saw his sheepish grin.

"Yeah," He admitted, and I smiled as I got onto the back seat of his car, Kyle joining me a second later.

He crawled over me as I smiled widely, and I held his face as he brought his lips down to mine. I focused on kissing him, trying not to smile or laugh and ruin it, as I actually wanted to get through this fully for once.

After a little while, I let my lips part, and it was Kyle who pulled back this time. I was about to ask why, until he kept his head ducked down, and he began pressing soft kisses to the skin on my neck. I gasped softly and bit down on my lip to hold in a sound as I tilted my head to give him more room.

"More?" He breathed and I nodded. So he began to lightly nibble on my neck, and placed kisses over the spots he used his teeth on, and kissed up to my ear and behind it before moving his lips to mine again.

I tangled my hands in his hair, wanting to keep him very close. I felt his kisses becoming a little harder, and I didn't mind in the slightest.

At least until he pulled back, breathing a little heavy, and I pressed gentle kisses on his cheeks.

"You okay?" I murmured, my hand sliding down from his hair to hold his arm.

"Yeah," He nodded. "I'm just... thinking things I shouldn't." Kyle squeezed his eyes shut.

"Like what?" I asked, starting to grow worried. Had I pushed him too far? "Talk to me, Kyle."

"They're... about you. Us. You know." He blushed slightly and I understood.

"Hey, it's okay," I assured him. "I think those type of things, too."

"You do?" Kyle's surprised eyes met mine, and I nodded. "C... Can I know what kind of things?" I saw him relax slightly.

"I..." I started to say and blushed harder as I looked away. "I think about blowing you a lot. I think about you fingering me..." I trailed off, blushing too hard to continue.

"I think about your legs wrapped around me," Kyle admitted with a blush on his face, too. "I think about how good you'd feel... I think about watching you when you finish." His voice grew softer.

"I think the same. The last bit, I mean." I said and gave an embarrassed giggle.

"Really?" Kyle gave a breathless smile, and I nodded. "Well, we'll work up to it, yeah?"

"Yeah." I agreed.


	15. Chapter 15

It was a day in early April when my house was completely empty, so Kyle as I went up to my room heatedly making out. His hands were already up my shirt but just rested on my waist, not really going any higher.

At least not until Kyle removed his lips from mine to kiss my neck, and pushed my shirt up just a little more.

"It's okay, Kyle." I breathed, and he lifted up and I sat up a little to help him get my shirt off. Kyle got his off as well, I had the urge to feel his skin.

"Can I?" I asked, reaching over, but not touching him yet.

"Yeah," Kyle nodded breathily, tugging me closer by my waist, and putting his lips back on mine, almost like he was hungry for me. I let my hand come to his shoulder, feeling the broad muscles, and slid down to feel a pec and just trail my fingers over his stomach. God, he was so warm.

Kyle kissed me harder, his fingers slightly digging into my skin where he held me. I didn't mind and threaded my fingers in his hair once again to keep him close.

"You want me to touch you?" He asked breathlessly, his forehead against mine, and I nodded.

"Only if you're okay with it," I said. "You don't have to, I can wait-"

Kyle cut me off by shaking his head and kissing me again. "No, I want to. Probably a little too much." He admitted, a smile breaking out across his face, making me laugh a little.

He lied me back again and worked on the button of my jeans, and I bit my lip as I watched him, my heart running a marathon inside my chest, but in a good way.

I lifted my hips so he could pull them off, then he just rested his hands on my hips, thumbs rubbing circles into my skin, and his eyes flickered back up to me.

"You're a hundred percent sure?" He asked, and I sat up again and met his lips.

"I trust you." I sighed against him, and Kyle smiled before he kissed me back. He slowly pulled down my panties, and I my mouth fell open in a silent gasp as his thumb traced over me. Kyle bit my bottom lip as he thumbed my clit, which had me feeling all sorts of things.

"Do you want me to...?" I breathed, and Kyle nodded. I undid his jeans, pulling them down with his boxers. His length rose up, and I licked my palm before I began to stroke him.

Kyle gasped against my lips, moaning lowly. We weren't kissing anymore, just keeping very close to where we could breathe each other's air.

He had worked two fingers into me, and I felt my stomach stir as I bit my lip, muffling my moans.

"Good?" Kyle asked and I nodded.

"Yeah... yeah. You?" I asked through my moans as he stroked my front wall by curling his fingers.

"Amazing." He chuckled, and I smiled and increased my pace a little. I put my forehead on his, needing some stability, my brows creasing as I tried keeping a grip on myself.

"It's alright, Tony. I wanna hear you." Kyle said and kissed me softly for a second. Let my mouth open in a sigh, moaning for him.

"Fuck, Kyle... just a little harder..." I hummed, and he pressed harder as he fingered me, making me moan a bit louder and shake against him. I felt his free hand slide down my sides and hold my hip, settling me a little.

Kyle was panting against my skin, and I think he was getting close. His thumb came back to my clit, and my moan broke halfway through at the feeling.

"I love you." He sighed before placing a kiss on the corner of my mouth.

I smiled a little and turned my head to push my lips to his, needing to kiss him. "I love you." I echoed the words and heard him choke out a moan, and felt wetness spread across my hand. The feeling of accomplishment that I actually got him off made me incredibly happy, and when his thumb rubbed hard circles against my clit, I came across his fingers less than a minute later.

When I had gathered my senses, I reached back and grabbed us a couple tissues to clean ourselves off, and I lied back with my head against my pillows and held my arms out to Kyle so he would join me.

He smiled widely and came into my arms, wrapping me in his as he lied with me.

"Happy?" He asked.

"Very. You?" I looked up and saw his eyes were practically sparkling as he smiled.

"Very," Kyle said and placed kisses all over my face, making me giggle as I tried to turn my face. He didn't let me, soon kissing my lips so I would stop moving, which ended up working.

"I'm... I can't even begin to explain how happy I am that you trust me, and I trust you, and we're so comfortable..." Kyle breathed, seeming exhilarated.

I smiled widely and turned, reaching up to feel his cheek, getting him to look at me again.

"I know. I feel it, too." I smiled and let my hand fall between our bodies. "I thought for the longest time I was just going to be alone forever because I didn't think I had it in me to trust anyone this much."

Kyle took my hand in his and kissed my fingers, still looking overjoyed. "I don't know how I'm supposed to focus now when this image is now in my head?" He sighed, making me laugh a bit.

"You'll be fine." I smiled at him. "I'm sure you'll live."

"But what if I'm not fine after this? What if I can't get you right here with me out of my head, and I'm just distracted all the time, and I walk out into oncoming traffic or something?" He smiled wide at me.

"Kyle, I swear to God..." I sighed, and he shook with laughter.

"But seriously, though. It is gonna be hard to think straight for a while." He rested his lips against my shoulder.

"I know what you mean." I smiled softly.

"Ooh, have you been thinking thoughts, Miss Tony?" He grinned, his hand sliding up to rest on my stomach.

"Kyle, don't you fucking dare..." I said but didn't finish my warning before he began tickling me. I squealed in laughter, squirming, and Kyle moved over me to hold me down, laughing a bit himself.

I honestly didn't think I'd ever be this happy with someone else, but damn, I'm glad I was.


	16. Chapter 16

It was a Sunday, and Miss Marie had brought in a body in her back room for me.

"Show me what you've learned." She said, and I nodded, setting down my bag, and I went and knelt beside the body. I hovered my hands over it and took a breath, focusing on life energy to flow back into the corpse.

When it died down, I opened my eyes and let my hands fall, and saw the body breathing deeply, looking around in confusion. I stood back up and looked over at Miss Marie.

"Good. I'm impressed." She said. "Now kill it."

"Any specific way?" I asked, not even batting an eye.

"Just show me what you can do." She nodded, and I looked over at the body standing up.

My first thought was to burn it to a crisp, but I didn't want to stink up the whole shop. So I laser-focused on their neck and heard them gasping for breath as I closed the airway.

After a moment, I got bored and crushed their windpipe and let them fall to the ground.

"You were getting somewhere," Marie said.

"It was taking too long." I gave a little shrug, and she smiled softly before laughing. She came over and gathered me in a hug. Her guard, Chinwe, took the body away.

"Two and a half more months, sugar." She smiled, quickly stroking my cheek.

"I'm excited." I smiled widely.

"Of course you are." She said, then felt my hair. "We should get you all prettied up before the ceremony. What do you think?"

"I dunno." I shrugged as we walked back into the shop.

"I think you should straighten it. Get it all long and sleek." Gummy nodded. "Ooh! Maybe we can make it even longer. How long is your hair, girl?"

"I have no idea." I sighed, pursing my lips at my reflection.

"That's gotta be at least to your waist." She hummed, then came over and tugged a strand straight, and we saw it came to almost my hip.

"Think of how pretty it would be, Tony." She whispered excitedly, making me smile.

"Fine, Gummy. Guess we'll straighten it." I rolled my eyes and she cheered happily.

I left the shop not long after, Chantal telling me that they were already working on my dress. I tried to picture it as I walked home, already knowing it would probably have black, purple, and red in it. Death, royalty, and danger.

As a sort of celebration, I gathered up some money and went to a tattoo shop. I had an idea in mind and explained it to the artist. They sketched the script out and transferred the ink to my hand.

I sat in a chair as they worked on inking the word 'fireproof' on my right hand, below my index finger, beside my thumb. That way, whenever someone shook my hand, they'd know that they could never burn me, no matter how hard they tried.

It didn't hurt all too bad, and when it was all done, I paid and went back home, and stayed home.

I took the wrappings off to wash it and moisturize it, and checked the time and decided I should probably eat. I went down to the kitchen and my mom, grandma, and Daumier were in there.

"Where've you been?" Mom asked.

"Miss Marie wanted to test me a bit," I said and sat down.

"And what's this?" Daumier lifted my hand with a smirk.

"I treated myself a little." I shrugged, as mom gave me a look. "I'm eighteen." I pointed out and she sighed.

"She's about to become second in command, Aunt Rosalie. I think Tony can make her own choices." Daumier said with a little laugh.

"You're far too young to be the High Priestess. I don't know what Marie is thinking." Mom crossed her arms.

"I love your faith in me." I frowned a little.

Mom just gave me a look. "You might be powerful, but I don't think you're ready." She said with a little shrug.

That just made me mad. "Oh, really?" I stared. "How do you know if I'm ready or not?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but I just held my finger up. "Because the books I've been studying cover to cover for months now would tell you I'm ready. The rituals, spells, potion recipes, and curses I've memorized would tell you I'm ready. The body I raised from the dead just hours ago would beg to differ."

Her eyes were wide and her jaw set. "You raised the dead?"

"And lowered it again." I gave a firm nod.

She shook her head slowly. "Marie Laveau is trying to make you a weapon, Tony."

I just stared again, not wanting to say what was on my mind to my mother. Instead, I closed my eyes and sighed.

"She wants to push me to make me better than I already am. What's wrong with that?" I asked.

"It becomes wrong when you start doing black magic, Tony." Mom said in a hard voice.

"Voodoo has black magic in it. You can't cherrypick and just do the light magic. Both the dark and light are parts of what makes us us." I tried to explain.

"You're corrupt." Mom shook her head at me.

"How am I corrupt? Have I murdered? Have I stolen anything? Last time I checked, I've done nothing wrong." I grit my teeth.

"You're corrupted by the power she's promised you." Mom leaned across the table to me. "Nothing but death and despair follows Marie Laveau."

"Okay." I pursed my lips and sat back. "Okay, talk shit about the woman who took me in when your father tried to rape me. Go on."

That shut her up.

"That's what I thought," I said and stood back up, grabbing a bag of chips, and went up to my room, locking the door once again.


	17. Chapter 17

Graduation day came sooner than I expected. Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

I was in a white dress, my hair straightened and all smooth, long, and sleek, and my face was done up perfectly.

A good number of the tribe had come and cheered when I walked the stage, and I smiled widely at the sound of support.

After, I found Kyle and took his hand, walking out of the building with him.

"We did it." He breathed and kissed my head as I beamed. "Fuck, Tony, babe. We did it."

"Just think. In a few months, you'll be all moved into a frat house, having survived all the hazing." I teased, making him chuckle.

"They don't haze."

"Every frat hazes," I said, then looked up at him. "But seriously, if they try to pull some shit on you, call me. I'll be on their asses in a second."

"I know you will." He gave me a smile, his hand dropping mine to come around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.

Daumier was the first to greet me, stealing me from Kyle and lifting me in a hug. I begged him to put me down as I heard Kyle laughing behind me. Once I was set down, I smiled at the faces of a good portion of the tribe.

"How ya been, boy toy?" Marie elbowed Kyle lightly beside me.

"I've been good, ma'am. You?" Kyle kept being polite to her, making me incredibly happy.

"I been alright. Listen, we've agreed that you can have her for the day, but we need her by eight." She said, and Kyle nodded, thanking her.

So after plenty of pictures, hugs, and kisses, I handed off my diploma, cap, and gown to my mom, promising I'd be home in time, and Kyle took my hand so we could leave and get lunch or something.

He had our CD in his car, which we both sang along loudly to as he drove to a slightly more expensive restaurant than what we usually got. I raised my eyebrow at Kyle, who just smiled.

"Come on, Tony. We deserve to celebrate a bit." He took my hand and pulled me inside. We got a table and sat across from each other, looking over the menu. We both decided on burgers and just talked as we waited for them to come.

"So what's your family doing tonight?" He asked.

"Huge ass family celebration." I rolled my eyes a little. "Old tradition from Haiti," I said and he nodded.

After some minutes, Kyle grew a little quiet.

"What's up?" I frowned.

"I just... I'm a little scared that when I start college, I won't have any time for you." He sighed, and I smiled a little.

"Kyle, you're smart. You'll figure a schedule out." I said, and he gave me a little smile.

"You're right. I know you're right. I'm just over thinking." He sighed and held his head.

"It's alright." I shrugged, then leaned forward. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?" He asked softly with a little smile.

"You look really good in a suit." I smiled and saw his expression turn bashful.

"You look beautiful in that dress." He smiled.

"Are you trying to outdo me?" I raised an eyebrow, and Kyle laughed. "Fine. You're absolutely gorgeous in a suit. Ha."

"You're a goddess, Tony. Ha." He challenged me back, and I pursed my lips as I tried to not smile or laugh.

Our food came, and we kept teasing each other and talking as we ate, and never stopped talking and just being happy even after we paid and left, spending time together.

"Hey, you're not busy tomorrow, are you?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"No. What are you planning?" I asked.

"Just... don't freak out if you wake up and I'm in your room." He said, making me burst out in laughter.

"I'll try my best." I smiled, rolling my eyes.

Before he left me, Kyle gave me a few burning kisses and told me to have fun. We parted ways, and I got dressed in the ceremonial dress, armbands, and was taken to Marie, who put the paint on my face, neck, chest, and arms.

At nightfall, we gathered in a field where the pyre was built for me to burn later.

"How big should I make the fire?" I asked Marie.

"Big enough to reach the heavens." She stroked my cheek. "Burn the sky, girl."

After the offerings were given to the Lwa and the prayers were said, Marie introduced me as the new High Priestess, and then took my hand and lead me up the pyre. I smoothed my dress down as I lied, facing the stars, waiting for everyone to back up a safe distance.

I peeked over to see what range I was working with, then looked back to the stars before closing my eyes and let the world burn all around me. I focused on letting my power reach the sky, and judging from the gasps and cheers I heard over the crackling of the flames, I'd say I succeeded.

After a minute, I opened my eyes and stood up, walking down the burning pyre, and across the field to accept my new crown.

I lowered down a bit so Marie could put it on me, and when I stood back up, the cheers of our tribe reached the heavens, and I beamed widely.

The celebration then began, and I just had to have a taste of everything at the feast that was prepared.

"How big was it?" I asked Daumier.

"I think you could've seen it from space." He chuckled. "It was fuckin' huge, Tony, seriously."

I grinned and took a drink. I didn't get much in me before Gummy was taking my hands and spinning me out to dance a bit. I laughed and decided that a dance wouldn't kill me.

But she kept wanting to dance until I told her I just wanted to eat, and she laughed and let me go. I sat down again, a smile on my face, grabbing a bit to eat, and just watched others celebrate and be happy.


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning, as warned, I opened my eyes to blond curls in my line of sight.

"Kyle?" I groaned.

"Hey, babe." He hummed and I felt him press a kiss to my cheek. "Mind if I join you?"

I only hummed and heard him chuckle as he crawled into bed beside me, his arm coming around me. We lied there, and I slowly woke up as he pressed kisses to my shoulder every now and then.

"What do you wanna do?" I asked, turning around to face him.

"Spend the day with you." He answered, and I pushed his chest playfully as he chuckled.

"I meant specifically."

"I know. You know I like messing with you." He hummed and fell quiet.

"Well?" I asked, looking up, then understood. "Oh, you want to do something dirty. Out with it."

"Are... are you sure?" Kyle gave me a look.

"Mhm. Now tell me." I sighed.

"I... dreamed about putting my head between your thighs last night." He admitted softly.

"Yeah?" I asked and saw Kyle just biting his lip. "I'm okay with it if you want to."

"Really?" He asked and I nodded. That got Kyle going, and he kissed me, tugging my shorts and panties down, pushing my T-shirt up. Once my bottom half was bare, he pushed the blankets off us and kissed my stomach, going down to my legs.

"That didn't take long." I hummed as he parted my thighs, looking at me as he kissed the inside of my legs.

"You have no idea how crazy you make me, do you?" Kyle smiled, before glancing down at my lower lips, then dipped his head down and licked up my slit, making me tremble.

Kyle held my legs open as he worked his mouth, dragging it across me, making me moan and shake when he flicked my clit with the tip of his tongue. I didn't think Kyle was such a tease until he circled my clit with his tongue, and sucked on it lightly.

"Kyle, please..." I begged with my fingers tugging on his hair. But every time I got close, he pulled away to lick and kiss somewhere else.

"Why?" I whined.

"Because I'm having fun." He chuckled.

"If you make me come right now, I swear to God I will suck you off right after." I pleaded.

Kyle paused for a second before he licked up my slit again and took my clit into his mouth, sucking hard this time. My mouth fell wide open as I squirmed, my back arching off the bed, and I panted as I felt myself leaking come.

Kyle licked it up, and when I had it in me to sit up, I did and reached for his jeans. I didn't even bother with taking his pants and boxers completely off, I just pushed them down a bit, and leaned over him, licking up the base, raising my eyes to his, and saw a look of awe on his face.

I lowered my eyes and got a grip before I slipped my lips over his tip and got to business, not teasing him, though I really wanted to for payback.

Kyle's groans and the way he was gripping my sheets just encouraged me to work harder to get him to come on my tongue. Him moaning my name made my heart nearly leap out of my chest.

It took a few minutes, but I got him to come. I managed to ignore the salty taste and swallow it, and the two of us lied back, breathing and basking.

It was some odd minutes later when my stomach made a noise, and his seemed to reply. We both laughed, then got up to get dressed, and I lead him down to the kitchen, where I poured us both some lemonade and started to make us both sandwiches.

"So this is the boy that makes you moan like a whore, Antoinette?" The voice of my grandpa rang out, and I dropped the knife I was holding with a clatter and turned around.

"Don't call her that," Kyle said in a hard voice.

"It's what she is, ain't she?" Grandpa asked, and I saw Kyle balling his fists at his sides.

"Leave, please. Now." I glared at him.

"What? I can't meet the boy who's going to knock you up someday?" He asked, and Kyle snapped.

He threw a punch which sent my grandpa back against the wall, and Kyle then gripped his neck as his head rolled over to the side. Kyle was yelling, but all I could see was the spot of blood on the wall, and the blood dripping at their feet.

"Kyle-" I tried, but he didn't hear me. "KYLE! He's dead!" I yelled and Kyle shut up, then took a step back, and my grandfather's body fell to the floor, not moving even a little.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God... what have I... what do we do?!" Kyle looked panicked, and I honestly couldn't blame him.

"I... I'll take care of it. Just... come on." I took his hand and lead him outside and to his car. I had an idea in mind, and I was holding back the tears as I knew this was my only option to protect him.

"Tony... Tony, wait. What's happening? What are you doing?" He asked as I opened his car door. I turned to him and caught his cheeks, and kissed him deeply. Kyle kissed me back, not knowing this was my goodbye kiss.

I pulled back with a sniff and moved him to get in his car, and he looked utterly confused.

"Tony, what's happening? Talk to me, baby." He held my hand, and I wiped my cheeks.

"This is goodbye, Kyle." I sniffed, trying to put a smile on.

"What? No." He shook his head, and I just nodded. "Tony, no. I love you."

I smiled sadly, my heart completely broken. "I love you, too. Always will." I said before taking my hand back and slipped it over his eyes. I then pushed some magic into him, rewriting his memories so I no longer existed to him. He wouldn't remember one goddamn thing about me.

When his body fell limp, I removed my hand, seeing he was passed out. "Bye, baby," I whispered and pecked his lips before shutting his car door and walking away, still wiping the tears that I knew would be falling for a long time.


	19. Chapter 19

The next couple years were a bit easier on me. Marie ended the 'truce' between witches and our tribe, so we could get to business with ending them. I helped her raise an army of the dead to attack.

But, when we weren't taking action, planning, or fighting, the salon ran as usual. I was not only doing makeup now but also hair if an extra set of hands were needed.

I distracted myself plenty from my heartache with color theory, perfecting my makeup skills, and practicing my hairdressing skills.

I had also moved out of my house, unable to feel safe there anymore, and had my own apartment. It was on the cheaper side, but I kept it clean. My crown, which I was only to wear on special occasions, was in a glass case right in the living room. I liked to sit and study it sometimes, as I was always impressed with how intricately detailed it was.

Marie suggested I try to hop back into the dating pool, and I tried to, but it just didn't feel right. Besides, every time I'd look at my right hand and read the word 'fireproof,' my chest grew tight at the memory of him holding onto my hand.

I held onto the memory of us dancing in my room, him singing softly to me, and how happy that made me feel. I considered it one of my most prized possessions.

I hardly listened to the song anymore, though, as the lump in my throat got too hard to swallow. I hummed it too myself late at nice every once in a while, just to make myself remember. Just to keep myself grounded and sane.

I was bringing in good money for Marie, and we as a tribe seemed to be thriving. Even when hits were put out on us by those fucking witches, we thrived and held strong.

I was there when fucking Fiona Goode came in to initiate a war. I was there when Cordelia came in for a fertility ritual. Shit, as High Priestess, I helped with the ritual. I fought when the hit was sent out. I helped in the burial ritual for Chantal, Gummy, and Chinwe. It was at that time that Marie got us some new guards. Yeah, she got me a guard, too. I asked for Daumier, but as he wasn't as strong, I got another guy named Jabali. He was pretty intimidating but nice to me and Marie. He mostly spoke French and Haitian Creole, only a few words of English, so I mostly spoke to him in French, which I very quickly became fluent in.

With Fiona, I was there when she and Marie killed that girl, Nan, for her soul to get to Papa Legba. Fiona constantly asked why a 'little girl' was hanging around but stopped questioning me once I threatened her with all my power.

"You may be the Supreme of your kind, but you will never be as powerful as I am, the High Priestess." I glared, and she started taking me seriously.

I liked being taken seriously. I demanded respect, and I got it. It wasn't an ego thing. It was more of an 'I'm not doubting my worth for a goddamn second, and you better not either' thing.

Marie was very proud of me, and slowly but surely, my mother began to see my potential too, as I accomplished more and more.

I had gotten more tattoos, most creatures like dragons, wendigos, and demons. I was happy with the art, as I wanted to be seen as a piece of art.

My confidence grew week by week, month by month. When I first started out at the salon, I thought wearing heels to work was insane. Us girls are on our feet all fucking day, why would we wear heels? Then I wore a pair of six-inch wedges just to see and immediately understood how much more powerful it made you feel. And besides, when my feet started hurting, a quick little healing spell fixed it up right away, and I was good to go.

So now I made sure to look as good as I possibly could. Not just at Cornrow City, but anywhere I went, especially with Marie, Jabali, or anyone else of the tribe.

I compared myself a lot to Cersei or Daenerys from Game of Thrones. I wanted to be powerful and respected like them. I wanted to be feared like they were. I wanted to prove myself as Daenerys does on countless occasions, and be taken seriously as Cersei always is.

I made sure my enemies died screaming, just as they did.

So, every morning when I woke up, I dressed and put my heels on, then did my makeup as perfect as I could, making sure I looked like I was created by a perfectionist God.

Beautiful and fearsome. That's all I wanted to be, so I would make myself so.

One day I had taken a look back on what cards life has dealt me in the past. A dead father, an abusive grandfather, and years of living behind locked doors, convincing myself I was fine with it. I had soon enough decided that that was enough; I would deal my own cards. I'd be a damn good makeup artist and hairdresser, I'd be the best fucking High Priestess the world has ever seen, I would prove myself to be important, powerful, and otherworldly. I deserved that, not because of what I've been through, but because I said so.

I like to make my own choices. Fate was bullshit.


	20. Chapter 20

I woke up in the morning and played some music as I got dressed in a little dress with thick straps on my shoulders and a short skirt that I made sure to put a pair of shorts under. I put on a pair of chunkier heels that went pretty well with the dress and went over to my vanity.

I separated the top part of my hair, which was in box braids, and put it up in a big bun on the top of my head. I secured it and started on my makeup, deciding to go with some neutral browns and gold colors on my eyes today. As I made sure, my face was perfect, eyebrows were perfect, liner and lashes perfect, and highlight perfect.

I took a minute to choose my lipstick, going for a more expensive rich, deep red. I put in my earrings and finished my morning routine, and grabbed my bag before locking up and going to Cornrow City.

Jabali was waiting outside for me, and I greeted him with a smile as he opened the door for me and followed me in. I said good morning to him in French, and we had a little conversation as I set my station up for the day. He asked if there was anything I needed, and I asked him to grab my schedule for today, to see if I had appointments.

I did, apparently, and sat there in my chair, pursing my lips at the customer names and times, remember who liked what, and starting to make plans that would be flexible if they wanted anything else.

My first appointment was a news anchor who liked my work a lot, so I made her up most mornings before she went on air. As she was wearing a cream colored dress today, I kept her makeup a bit more natural than I usually did it. She loved it all the same.

My second appointment was a girl who was going on a lunch date and was too nervous to do her own face. As she wore a teal top with a navy skirt, I kept her to natural colors but put a bold red lip on her.

My third was probably my favorite, as it was this woman who had grown bored of her normal routine. I had her explain it to me, then walked her through some tips she could try to revamp her routine. She ended up loving it and asked where she could buy some products I had used or recommended.

That was another part of my job, selling products. Marie had hooked up every place that sold makeup to our salon, so if anyone mentioned me, Marie, or the salon while buying products, we'd get a cut of the sales. And seeing as a lot of people were impressed with my skills, we were making a lot of profit with this.

I took a lunch break when I didn't have any appointments at one, and Jabali stuck by my side. Marie said I could try for a relationship with him, but I didn't see Jabali in that way, and he didn't see me like that, either.

My break was almost over, as I was just drinking coke out of my book quote tumbler.

Yeah, I still used the tumbler. And I never took my Capricorn constellation necklace off unless I was showering.

"Tony! You got that lipstick for Queenie?" Marie called, and I stood up quickly, looking around for it, telling Jabali to tell her I'd be out in a minute, and he did so.

Queenie came to visit about a week ago, just to get some tips from me, and I was wearing this lipstick she really liked. It was a rich brown and asked about it. Thing was, it was a bit too expensive for her to buy herself, so I said I could get one for her. Just as a sort of gift or something.

I was looking through my bag for the box I bought days ago, and it took me a few minutes to dig it out. I double checked that it was the right color, and sighed in relief to myself.

I walked back out with my cup in one hand and the box in the other, giving a smile to her, ignoring the group waiting for her outside.

"Sorry about that. Had a mini heart attack cos I couldn't find it for a second." I sighed and handed her the box.

"Nah, girl, it's alright." She hummed. "You're sure it's long-lasting?"

I smiled and leaned over the counter. "Girl, I've eaten the greasiest goddamn burger you could get your hands on with this shit on. Didn't budge." I chuckled, ignoring the ring of the door behind her.

"Long-lasting, eighteen hours in the least, waterproof, smudge proof, matte. It's the best formula ever." I said and stood back up, taking a drink.

"Thank you so much, really." She sighed.

"Anytime. You're one of my best, Queenie." I said, and Marie knocked into my elbow slightly, and I looked at her, then saw the witches had come in with a certain blond boy, who was staring at me with the most confused look on his face.

I had told Marie of what had happened with Kyle and me, and she warned that with the right magic some memories could be recovered. I explained that I wiped his memories to protect him from magic, but if he was with the witches...

I kept my calm face on, looking away, back to Queenie. Marie had a little hold on my wrist under the table, and that Fiona stepped up, and we looked at her.

"Is there a problem, ladies?" She asked softly, and Marie's hand left my wrist, and I kept my mouth shut, keeping on a straight face as her hand touched my shoulder.

"I'm not looking to start a fight, but you need to get your witches out now. Tony's got some history." Marie hissed, and Fiona's eyes met mine.

"With who?" She asked me.

"Just go before it gets bad," I said in a low tone.

"Yes, Your Highness." She hummed with a quick smile and told the group they had to go. I turned to go back to the back room, try to calm down my hammering heart until I heard his voice.

"I kn-know you." Kyle stuttered, and I paused, though I know I shouldn't have.

I turned slightly, daring to look at him. "Sorry, think you've got the wrong person." I threw a quick smile before turning again.

"No, I know I d-do. You're... You're..." He struggled a little more, and I wondered when he developed a stutter.

"Kyle, come on, let's go." Another girl said softly, and I pressed my lips tight together to control my breathing.

"B-b-back off, Z-Zoe," Kyle said, and I wanted to keep walking, but my feet wouldn't move. "I kno-know it. If I could... j-just remember..." He sounded almost angry.

Marie came over to me. "Just put the poor boy out of his misery." She hissed.

"I can't. It's better like this, and you know it." I hissed back, trying not to hear Kyle stuttering out a T.

I tried to take another step forward, but Kyle spoke up, shocking me.

"Antoinette Jasmine Vertefeuille." He said suddenly, pronouncing it all perfectly. I swallowed thickly, not wanting to turn back and look at him.

"We met in senior year of high school. We were Bio partners. You used to bring this giant gold tumbler to school every day until the bottom of it dented, so for Christmas, I got you a new one. That one." He said, and his voice sounded closer, and I turned and saw he was right behind me.

"When did Kyle stop stuttering?" I heard a witch mutter, but I didn't care, as Kyle reached up and took my necklace between his fingers.

"I got you this necklace for your eighteenth birthday. The Capricorn constellation instead of the sign. I was so worried you'd think it was cheesy, but you loved it." He smiled softly. "We went to this cafe almost every single day and you'd get mochas while I got plain coffee, and we'd buy entire cakes for ourselves. On Halloween, I was a werewolf and you were a witch doctor and told me you couldn't dance, but I got you to."

He paused again, then looked at my right hand, lifting it as he dropped my necklace, and ran his thumb over my tattoo.

"You must be fireproof." He smiled a bit wider, then looked up at me. "Why did you take my memories, Tony?" He asked softly.

"You don't remember that day?" I asked, then he grinned.

"I remember the first part of it." He said and I rolled my eyes, then touched his arm.

"Not here. Come on." I said and lead him to the back room, looking at Marie, who gave me a nod, and I paused by Jabali, telling him to stay here, I was safe.

I sat at a table, Kyle beside me, and took my right hand in his again, just tracing the inked word.

"It was after we got hungry. We went down to the kitchen, and I was making us some food. My grandpa came in and started talking to us, trying to taunt us or something, I don't know." I shook my head. "Anyway, you ended up getting mad, so you punched him and his head the wall. You... you then started to strangle him, but he was already dead."

Kyle just stared at the table, no expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Kyle. I thought it was the best way to protect you..." I frowned.

Kyle then surprised me by lowering his head and catching my lips. It was certainly a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. His hands came up to lightly touch my face as he kissed me slowly, just like he used to.

When we parted, I gazed at him, adoration still clear in his eyes. He smiled, then stroked my cheek.

"You won't believe what's happened to me in the last couple years, babe." He chuckled, and I smiled a little.

"Tell me," I whispered, and he began a recap for me. I was pretty shocked at some parts, especially at where he died, but was brought back, and even more when he told me that two witches, Madison and Zoe, shared him.

"I'm sorry, they fucking what now?" My brow was high on my forehead.

"Sorry." He mumbled, and I sighed.

"To be fair, you didn't know I existed, so..."

"I think a part of me did," Kyle said, looking at our joined hands. "While I was relearning to speak, Zoe kept trying to get me to say her name. I kept saying Tony." He smiled wide, making me smile happily.

Kyle then moved closer, getting face to face with me. "Please tell me you don't have someone else." He whispered.

"You still want me?" I smiled a little bigger, speaking even softer.

"Yes." Kyle nodded and ran the backs of his fingers over my cheek again. "God, fuck, yes." He put his forehead on mine and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Would I be stealing you from a witch, then?" I asked, and heard him laugh softly.

"I've always been yours, Tony. You're just reclaiming me." He sighed, and I reached up and stroked his hair a little, remembering how it felt to run my fingers through it.

"Alright. I'll reclaim you." I said and saw him beam before he looked up.

"Wait, so you're an actual voodoo witch doctor?" He asked, and I gave a little laugh

"I'm a bit more than that. I'm the High Priestess of the tribe." I said.

"What's that?" He asked.

"I'm second in command," I said and his eyes widened.

"Oh, damn," Kyle said, and I smiled. "So, you're like, up there." He said and I nodded. "So that's why Fiona called you Your Highness."

"I had to threaten that blondie quite a bit to get her to take me seriously." I huffed, rolling my eyes a little.

"Where do you live now? Are you still in that house?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Nah, I got an apartment," I said. "Why?"

"I want to stay with you. I don't want to be away from you, not after all this time." He sighed, frowned. "Thing is, I'm the butler over at their school..." He explained, and I nodded, understanding that that was a bit of a problem.

"Marie and I can probably work something out with Fiona," I said, holding his cheek, and he nodded. "You stay put, I'll be back," I said, and he nodded again as I stood again.

I stepped out again, and Jabali immediately stood up, addressing me. I told him to wait for me in the back room. He nodded and went in, and then I looked.

"Auntie Marie, Fiona. Need a word." I said, and Marie came back, giving a look to Fiona. She got up and came back as well.

"I take it boy toy remembers everything?" Marie asked, and I nodded. "I've caught Fiona up a bit. What's happened now?"

"Well, seeing as we've been reunited, though unexpectedly, Kyle and I have decided to stick together. But, Fiona, I understand he is the butler of your school-" I started.

"He can move in with wherever you are. I don't really care." She shrugged, taking a cigarette out, and I made her drop it with a lazy flick of my finger.

"Not in the shop, please. And thank you." I smiled. "I have work, but when I get off, Jabali and I can come and get Kyle and his things to move him in with me." I offered.

"Sounds like a plan." Fiona hummed, and I gave a smile, then told Jabali the plan in French, and he nodded in understanding. Kyle stood to leave when Fiona walked out, and Marie left with a pat on my back.

"I'll see you soon." He gave me a smile and kissed my forehead.

"Any of those witches give you trouble..." I started, and he smiled wider.

"I know, Tony." He kissed my head again before leaving. Jabali waited till they were all gone before teasing me, and I threw him a playful glare as he chuckled.

I got back to work, and when five came, I got my bag and got into Jabali's hummer and went to the school. Kyle let us in, and Jabali went with him to his room to help him with his things. I stood in the foyer, my weight on one foot, and I studied my nails.

I heard quick footsteps, and looked up and saw a crying girl with straight hair coming towards me. A blonde behind her was trying to stop her.

"What gives you the right?!" She cried as she came over looking ready to attack me, and Jabali came out of nowhere and took a defensive position in front of me, and she gave a small scream and stumbled back.

I just gave a small hum and smile and told Jabali to settle, and he did so, then went back to getting Kyle's things to the car.

"You won't even face me with magic? You get your guard dog to do everything?" She sniffed.

"Oh, no. I just don't like wasting my magic on little witches like you." I gave a little shrug. "And Jabali isn't a guard dog. He's a very loyal bodyguard. Have some respect."

I then tilted my head at her. "Besides, how bad could you really miss him if you were willing to share him?" I kissed my teeth.

Jabali addressed me, and I turned to look at him as he told me all the things were packed and Kyle was waiting in the car. I nodded and gave a small smile before turning to leave this fucking place.

"Leaving without saying goodbye?" I heard Fiona call as she walked down the stairs.

I turned, putting a smile on my face again for her. "Until next time, Fiona. A small bit of advice, you might want to teach some certain student or students how to hold their tongues. Who knows, maybe next time I'll be in the mood to set the sky on fire again?"

Fiona looked over at the still crying girl. "She is a soft one. Until then, Your Highness." She hummed and I nodded and left with Jabali, who drove Kyle and me to my apartment, where I helped him unpack a bit.

When we were done, we both lied back on the bed, and I looked over and found him watching me, and we both laughed a bit.

"Shower?" He asked, and I nodded, excited to start this new life with him by my side again.


End file.
